Twist of Fate
by Lonely Pikachu
Summary: Re-post! Thinking about how Ash's start in the Kalos region would have been if there had been some minor complications / Amourshipping, AshxSerena, SatoSere
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

><p>"Hang in there!", a young boy pleaded with a shivering voice.<p>

Step for step, a raven-haired trainer forced himself along a lonely way that didn't seem to end at all and every step was more painful than the one before. Within his arms, he held a small yellow Pokémon that was covered with bruises and scratches; it was his best friend, Pikachu.

"We have survived worse than this, haven't we?", he chuckled forcefully as if he was trying to make the situation look better than it actually was, but deep down, he knew that it was the complete opposite.

His yellow rodent didn't move, although Ash could feel the weak breathing of his pal and how its chest went up and down.

Suddenly, Ash dropped onto one knee before he squeezed his eyes and when he opened them again, he could see how a drop of blood fell from his face onto the ground. It was just the first of many to follow and Ash's forehead hurt extremely.

Panting, the boy fought against his desire to lay down. It wasn't time for that, not yet when his buddy needed help.

"No time for resting!", Ash told himself, standing up again.

By this time, every step had become a challenge, but it was a challenge that Ash needed to master.

"Don't worry! We'll soon find someone, who can help you …", he continued to talk, trying to keep himself awake, but slowly but surely, he doubted his words that he had said for almost an hour.

Now, the sun even started to disappear behind the trees and the sky was tainted into several kinds of red, yellow and mixes of them. Under normal circumstances, it would look beautiful, however, Ash had only one thing on his mind; finding help.

Seconds turned into minutes, minutes turned into another hour and he still couldn't see anything.

Normally, Ash wasn't someone, who would lose hope, but the sight of his injured friend forced his eyes to water up and after his first tear hit the ground, several other drops of water joined it. They weren't from the boy though, but rather the sky that 'cried' in its own way.

It became dark and it started to rain, making it difficult for the trainer to keep on.

'Please, somebody help us …', he thought desperately.

The rain drops multiplied and it almost became a downpour.

The tears, the blood and the raindrops became one before they went down the cheeks of a lonely trainer that slowly but surely, had problems to keep his conscious.

Shortly before he considered the fact that he was lost, Ash imagined that he saw something in the distance. Unfortunately, the lack of light and the heavy rain made it difficult to tell what it was though.

'Please, let it be it …', Ash pleaded to no one in particular.

When he was closer, Ash realized the outlines of a house and after a few moments, he could even spot light through a window. A smile formed on his face and finally, he could believe his own words again.

"Pikachu, there's a house!", Ash said enthusiastically, despite his panting.

"Pi …", the yellow rodent answered subconscious.

Mobilizing his remaining power, Ash started to walk quickly towards the light, despite his own weakened condition.

Eventually, he saw a wooden fence an Ash's mood became brighter.

Unexpectedly, he fell forward, but fell onto his side to prevent that he would drop onto his Pokémon.

It was a hard impact onto the ground and the boy couldn't explain why he fell from out of nowhere.

'My legs feel too heavy …', he thought with a painful expression.

The reason for it was Ash's lose of blood due to a laceration on his forehead that had bothered him for hours already. Nevertheless, he couldn't give up now and he struggled to get back onto his feet, but his sheer willpower made it possible.

Taking several deep breaths, Ash continued his way to the house, although he almost tripped at every step he took.

Finally, he had reached the fence and Ash leaned onto a wood lath to manage the last few meters until he walked through the garden door.

"We made it …", Ash said quietly.

Abruptly, Ash fell down again after the pain eventually caught up with him that he had ignored for such a long time. He couldn't even prevent that Pikachu rolled out of his arms and onto the ground.

'Damn it … I don't even have the strength to call for help anymore …', Ash thought sadly.

Only a few meters in front of the door Ash laid flat on his belly, with rain dropping onto his back and more blood dropping down from his forehead. Trying to move his arm to reach Pikachu, Ash realized that he couldn't move anymore at all.

Now Ash laid on the left side of his face before he stared straight to the side.

Strangely enough, he spotted something weird.

'A doghouse? …', he thought puzzled.

Indeed, there was a doghouse, but there wasn't a dog within it. Instead it was a grey Pokémon that had a rocky skin and looked like a rhino. It seemingly hid within his doghouse to avoid the rain.

' … Rhyhorn?', Ash didn't know what to think anymore.

Looking from out of his kennel, Rhyhorn looked at the trainer that looked beaten up.

Completely sodden, Ash glared into the eyes of the Rhyhorn, pleading it mentally for help.

"Help us, please …", Ash said very quietly before he eventually blacked out.

The rock-type's eyes widened, but as soon as he wanted to leave the kennel, he retreated again when some raindrops hit his head. It was already very late, but there was still light within the house.

Now, the Pokémon started to call its name several times in an attempt to catch the attention of the owner of the house. At first, nobody responded, therefore the rock-type continued with his calls for his trainer.

Dozens of times you could hear Ryhorn's name.

Starting to lose his patience, Rhyhorn stepped slowly out from his doghouse, resisting the water that dropped onto him. Walking to the unknown boy, Rhyhorn bit the collar of Ash before he pulled the trainer towards the entrance door.

Once he was close to the door, Rhyhorn knocked with its horn against it. It took some moments, but eventually, the door was opened.

Between the doorframes, a woman with brown hair looked towards her Pokémon.

"Rhyhorn, why are you standing in the rain? You should …", she said, puzzled, but suddenly, she spotted the fallen boy and his Pokémon in front of her house. "Oh my god!"

Immediately, she approached the boy, ignoring the rain that soon soaked her clothes.

"What happened to you?", she asked, shaking the boy, but he didn't respond. "Can you hear me?"

Ash didn't respond and now, the brunette spotted Ash's laceration on the boy's forehead. It looked nasty, but the adult realized quickly that she had to act quickly.

"Serena! Serena!", the mother called for her daughter, but an answer never came.

'She sleeps like a rock …', the adult thought.

"Do you know this boy?", she asked her Rhyhorn, but the rock-type shook its head.

"Anyway, we need to get him out of the rain and his Pokémon as well.", the adult noted before she lifted Ash off the ground as good as her physical strength allowed her to. Pulling him into her house, Grace laid him onto the couch within her living room.

Now, she quickly went to the outside again where she took Pikachu before she returned to the entrance door.

Before she closed it, she turned to Rhyhorn. "Get out of the rain; I'll care for this kid and his Pokémon now."

After she closed the door, Rhyhorn went into his doghouse again to spend the night.

Within the living room, Grace looked onto a clock at the wall, which showed that it was already half past ten in the evening.

'It's perhaps to late to call the doctor …', Grace thought.

Not wasting too much time, she got the first-aid-kid from her cupboard.

'I need to stop the bleeding on his head first.', Grace thought knowingly.

Knowing enough, the adult doctored the raven-haired boy and his Pikachu until she couldn't do anything more for them. At least, Ash wouldn't lose anymore blood and Pikachu would just need a long rest. After she turned up the heat, Grace removed some of Ash's wet clothes.

Sitting down on the couch next to her patient, Grace looked worriedly to Ash.

'I wonder what happened to him …', she wondered silently, however, she soon realized that it wouldn't bring anything to speculate. 'Anyway, he'll need much rest …'

Now, she thought what to do next.

Looking to the stairs, Grace knew that it would be difficult, but Ash could need a real bed to recover.

'I should bring him into our guest room until I can call the doctor tomorrow …'

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><p>The next morning showed a complete opposite atmosphere than the evening before. First, it wasn't raining anymore and the sun shone brightly through the windows of the house, and secondly, a certain girl woke up unusually early for her standards.<p>

Despite being awake, she pulled her cover once more over her face.

"Oh no …", she growled quietly when she remembered something. "Rhyhorn race training today …"

As if that wasn't enough to ruin her day, Serena couldn't fall asleep again.

Turning to every side, she wanted it to be the next day already.

Eventually, she peeked out from her covers to the alarm clock on her night table.

"Just 8 o'clock in the morning? …", she read the time with some disbelief. "Normally, I don't wake up until ten unless I'm looking forward to something good …"

Of course, the Rhyhorn racing couldn't be the reason and the brunette yawned again. Immediately, after, her stomach made an unusual tone for a girl like her and she felt slightly embarrassed about it.

'I guess and I hate to admit it that mum was right when she told me to take another plate during dinner yesterday …', the young girl thought.

Unfortunately, she could even smell the breakfast from downstairs that her mother obviously was making right now. It smelt great and tasty, but to go down would also mean to listen to her mother's advices about Rhyhorn racing during a morning.

"That's just not fair …", Serena whined.

After a while, she couldn't ignore her hunger and the delicious smell anymore.

Despite her hatred towards the training today, Serena rolled out of her bed, although she was still slightly drowsy since her body wasn't used all that much to be awake around this time.

"I guess, it's better before my mother sends Fletchling into my room again …", Serena tried to be optimistic.

In front of her large cupboard, she looked at her large amount of clothes that she owned. Of course, it weren't enough for her, but it was a beginning. Unfortunately, she missed some clothes that she normally wore at home.

"Where are they?", she 'demanded' to know while looking everywhere.

Suddenly, she got an idea where her clothes could be.

'When will my mum finally learn that she shouldn't put my clothes somewhere else than in my room!', Serena thought, annoyed.

Still wearing her pajamas, the brunette opened quietly the door of her room. In the stairwell, she could hear her mother how she was working in the kitchen.

She didn't go down the stairs though but she turned to the left side to reach a second room of the first floor. Actually, her family didn't have visitors that often, therefore Serena thought that a guest room was completely unnecessary.

When she entered the room, she closed the door behind her again. It wasn't very bright here, because the blinds covered the windows like usual. Making it herself easy, Serena hit the switch to lighten up the room.

An equal large wardrobe stood in this room as well.

Pushing the sliding doors to the side, Serena immediately spotted the clothes she had looked for.

'I knew it …', she thought knowingly.

After she took her clothes out of the wardrobe, the brunette decided to change right here.

Undressing, she stood there in her underwear before she …

"Pikachu …"

Shivers were sent down her body when she heard an unknown voice behind her. Slowly, she turned her head to look over her left shoulder to the other side of the room.

It hit her like a shock when she realized that someone laid within the bed of the guestroom. Although she could only see the back of the head of the person, Serena immediately knew that it was a boy.

Due to reflex, she dropped down onto her rear end before she crossed her arms to cover up her upper body. Completely shocked, Serena blushed like crazy due to the fact that she had never undressed in front of a boy.

Suddenly, the boy moved slightly and it looked as if he was going to turn his head to Serena.

With a shriek, Serena left the door like a lightning, even forgetting her clothes in there.

Grace was just about to set the table when her daughter dashed down the stairs.

"Hey, Serena. You already woke up … uh …", Grace stopped mid-sentence when she spotted her daughter in underwear in the kitchen. "What's the matter of your hectic rush?"

Serena looked hysterical with her beet-red face. "Mum … there's a strange boy in our guest room."

"I know.", Grace replied casually.

"You KNOW!", the girl exclaimed loudly and in disbelief. "Mum, I almost stripped down in front of him! Why didn't you tell me that you expected a guest?"

"Calm down first!", the mother motioned with her hands for her daughter to sit down.

"I don't want to calm down!", Serena exclaimed outraged.

On the kitchen table, Fletchling tilted its head at this weird conversation between Grace and a half-naked Serena. Grace's relationship to her daughter wasn't always the best one.

"Listen, Serena!", Grace started to explain. "This boy is seriously injured and he needs our help, just like his Pikachu. Both of them are hurt."

Serena suddenly had a mood swing when she heard that. "What?"

"You heard right.", Grace explained, nodding.

"What happened?", Serena was suddenly very concerned, showing a complete different attitude.

"I know that you have many questions, but what do you think if we talk about it during breakfast?"

Serena nodded slowly before she sat down.

"Don't you want to dress up first?", Grace acknowledge, pointing to her daughter's bare midriff.

The girl looked down to her body before she blushed in embarrassment. "Mum, my clothes are still within the guest room …"

"Don't worry about that.", the mother said with a smile. "I'll get your clothes and meanwhile, you can go to the bathroom to refresh yourself."

The brown-haired girl left for the bathroom, feeling slightly confused about the situation.

Grace quickly walked upstairs before she entered the room of the 'guest'. On the ground she spotted her daughter's clothes and after the adult took them off the ground, she looked to the raven-haired boy inside the bed. He was still sleeping, assuring her that he didn't see her daughter.

"Pikachu …", Ash said during his sleep.

Grace was surprised that the trainer even cared for his Pokémon during his sleep. Looking at the end of the bed, Grace checked on the yellow rodent that laid within a wooden basket close to the boy.

After she was sure that both of them were okay, she left the guest room again.

Within the bathroom, Serena just brushed her hair while looking into the mirror. For some reason, she suddenly thought if a boy would find her pretty.

Some knocks from the door ended her thoughts though.

"Here are your clothes.", Grace said when she opened the door to put Serena's clothes onto the hamper.

"Thanks, mum.", Serena replied calmly.

After she dressed up, Serena joined her mother in the kitchen to enjoy breakfast. Furthermore, she was interested to hear about this boy that her mother brought to her house.

"Who's that boy?", Serena asked curiously, nipping from her cacao.

"Unfortunately, I don't know his name or where he is from.", Grace admitted.

"Oh …", Serena responded, disappointed. "How's he doing?"

"Well, he has a very nasty-looking laceration on his forehead and he lost quite a lot of blood due to it. In addition, he has several scratches and bruises all over his body and I can only assume that he was ambushed by someone.", the mother explained.

"That sounds terrible.", Serena answered sadly. "Why didn't you notify me?"

"It was already late when I found him in front of our house and you were already asleep. It's not very easy to wake you up, you know.", Grace said, slightly teasing her daughter.

"That's not true!", Serena responded.

"Sure …" Grace rolled with her eyes.

"What are we going to do now?", Serena suddenly asked.

"I called the doctor an hour ago and he should arrive here soon.", Grace explained as a matter of fact.

The girl understood, although she couldn't tell why she worried so much about a boy that she didn't see completely. Due to her thoughts, she didn't eat much, despite being hungry and all.

"Well, it's our duty to care for this boy, therefore I fear that we have to cancel the Rhyhron race training for today.", Grace noted.

Serena immediately grew a smile.

"I hope you aren't too upset.", Grace said.

"It's okay, mum.", Serena replied with a played disappointed voice. "I understand that."

"Could you at least feed Rhyhorn after breakfast? Thanks to him, I only found the boy yesterday and he deserves some praise. After all, he left his kennel during the rain to knock on our door, although he can't stand water at all.", the adult explained.

"No problem, mum.", Serena assured.

After they finished breakfast, Serena walked into the front garden.

Kneeling down in front of the kennel, Serena remained in that position for a few moments. Shortly thereafter, Rhyhorn appeared from out of the doghouse after he smelt his breakfast before he started to gobble the food.

Patting Rhyhorn's head, the girl smiled.

"I heard that you are a hero.", Serena said playfully and Rhyhorn looked puzzled. "It was brave of you to forget your fear of water for once to help someone."

The rock-type looked silently to the girl.

"Excuse me!", someone said.

Serena was slightly caught off guard by those sudden words. Immediately, she turned to the side to see an adult man, with some sort of suitcase.

"Is that here the house of Grace?", he asked.

"Yeah, it is.", Serena replied casually before she realized it. "Are you the doctor?"

"Indeed!", he replied, nodding. "I suppose you're Grace's daughter then, right? I'm here, because your mother called me and she said that you have found an injured boy that I should doctor."

"That's right. My mother is within the kitchen.", Serena said, standing up.

Now, the girl leaded the doctor into the house and to her mother.

"It's nice that you take the time to visit us.", Grace welcomed the man.

"There's no need to be thankful. It's my job to help anyone who needs my help.", the doctor replied.

"You can go to your room, Serena.", Grace allowed.

The girl nodded before she walked to the stairs. Once she was on top of them, she looked to the door of the guest room with the boy in it. Remaining motionless again, she just looked at the door as if she had some sort of feeling that caught her in this moment.

Now, her curiosity got the best of her and she took the doorknob.

However, she heard how her mother and the doctor walked up the stairs. Removing her hand from the doorknob again, Serena just walked into her room before she closed it again.

Shortly thereafter, she heard how the two adults entered the guestroom.

'Weird … Why do I worry that much? … Okay, this boy is injured, but mum said that he's alright …'

Now, she opened her window to breathe some of the fresh air before she made the bed.

It felt like an eternity since her mother and the doctor had entered the guestroom. It was terrible that Serena didn't know how the situation was, but she tried to spend her time with creating new outfits from out of various clothes. It had always been her favorite hobby, although she couldn't enjoy it the way she usually did.

Finally, her mother entered her room.

Immediately, Serena stood in front of her with a hopeful expression on her face.

"You can stop to worry.", Grace clarified. "The doctor said that the boy will recover, despite his wounds and injuries. Besides the laceration, he has some bruised ribs and apparently, he also caught a cold during the rain yesterday. His Pikachu has similar injuries, but the doctor promised me that this is nothing that couldn't be solved with a long rest."

Serena sighed in relieved.

"You seem to be very relieved about those news.", Grace assumed.

"What?", Grace's daughter suddenly realized her own behavior. "It's not like that, mum! I'm just glad that it wasn't anything major."

"Anyway, the doctor suggested that he could call an ambulance to bring him to a hospital, but I thought it would be better if we keep the boy here, so he doesn't need to be transported again that could probably harm him.", Grace explained furthermore.

Serena didn't know what she should answer.

"Unfortunately, that could mean that you can't practice your race abilities with Rhyhorn for the next few days.", Grace added. "I hope you don't mind."

Once again, Serena had to suppress a smile. "I guess, it has to be like that."

The doctor then entered the room of Serena as well. "Grace, could I talk with you once more?"

Suddenly, Serena spotted a fearful expression again and the doctor noticed it.

"Don't worry, young lady. I'll just tell your mother the things that she has to know to treat the wounds of the boy as long as he's with your family.", the man said.

"I didn't worry!", Serena claimed.

The doctor smiled weirdly before Grace went to the living room with him.

When the adults left, Serena fell backwards onto her bed, looking up to the ceiling.

* * *

><p>Eventually, the doctor left again after he told Grace everything that she needed to know.<p>

Thinking what to do next, Grace went to the bathroom to see if Ash's clothes were dry again.

When she looked at the clothes, she noticed that it was a good idea to wash them again, because the rain and the mud from yesterday were still within them. Just when she was about to put the jeans into the washing machine, a red device fell out of its pocket.

"Oh, that's a Pokédex …", Grace realized.

Nevertheless, she didn't think too much about it and she put the clothes into the washing machine after she put the Pokédex onto the washbowl before she started the machine.

When she entered the kitchen again, Grace spotted Serena how she took a bottle of juice from out of the fridge. Of course, the girl had most of her hair into a large pony tail again that she attached with a pink ribbon.

"How time flies.", the mother said casually after she looked onto the wall clock. "I should probably start to prepare lunch."

"You don't have to hurry that much, mum.", Serena answered, closing the fridge again.

Now, Grace remembered something that the doctor had told her and she thought that Serena could help her with that task. After she went to the washbowl of the kitchen, the woman took a facecloth before she opened the water tap to make it wet with cold water.

"Oh, before I forget it, could you put a cold facecloth onto the boy's forehead head before you go to your room again?", Grace asked. "The flue caused him to have a light fever."

"Well …", Serena hesitated slightly. "Of course; that shouldn't be a problem, I guess."

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><p><strong>End of chapter!<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

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><p>While her mother set some things up for the cooking again, Serena stared at the facecloth within her hand and for some reason, she was like paralyzed as if she sensed something. After a while, she just shook her head and went up the stairs.<p>

After she went up the stairs, the brunette opened the door to the guestroom, where the blinds were pulled up.

Once again, a shiver shot through her body and slowly but surely, she started to question what was wrong with her. Actually, she didn't feel cold at all.

"Perhaps I should turn up the heat of the guest room before his condition worsens.", Serena said to no one in particular. "I'm still curious who he is though …"

Walking to the bed, the girl looked to the boy, who still slept with his back towards her. Unlike before, however, he wore a white bandage around his head that covered his forehead. Likely that it was the doctor, who did this.

'I guess, I have to turn him onto his back to be able to put the facecloth onto his forehead.'

Carefully, Serena bend over the bed to pull the injured boy onto his back. As soon as she touched him, Ash flinched slightly and Serena immediately took her hands away again after remembering that the doc told her that the boy had some bruised ribs. It wasn't her intention to hurt someone.

For a short moment, the girl thought that she should come later again after the guest would have turned onto his back on his own, however, she decided otherwise.

For the second time, she took Ash by his arms before she quickly pulled him onto his back, although Ash still flinched slightly.

Closing her eyes, Serena sighed in relieve and wiped some non-existent sweat from her forehead.

When she opened her eyes again, she looked with a smile to the boy before she was suddenly frozen in shock. Her eyes became bigger with the second and she just couldn't move at the moment after she finally saw the face of the boy that had come to her house.

The characteristics of the face of the boy didn't leave Serena's mind.

Words couldn't describe Serena's expression.

Images of the past resurfaced and the brown-haired girl completely lost track of time when she relived a scene from years ago. Within her memories, she saw the exact same face of the boy that laid in front of her right now.

When she came back to reality, she still stayed motionless.

At first, she just moved her lips without saying a word, however, she eventually said something nonetheless. "It can't be …"

'How's that possible? … From out of all people, it's him …'

After she closed her eyes and opened them again to assure herself of the situation, Serena kneeled next to the bed to get a closer look at the boy's face. The longer she looked at the face the more likely it became that she finally found him again.

"Ash? …", Serena asked as if she waited for an immediate response from the sleeping boy.

Her concern for the injured one multiplied by a thousand.

The facecloth already laid on the ground for minutes where it wet the carpet of the room.

Hesitantly, the girl reached for Ash's face where she removed some hair from the face of the boy, still being caught in that moment. Several times, she remembered the much younger Ash from her past, comparing past and present with each other.

The odds were low that there was someone, who looked exactly the same as Ash.

Slowly, a smile appeared on Serena's face.

"It's you … there's no other way ….", Serena said confidently, yet carefully.

Not being able to leave Ash's side, she looked at the bandage on his head.

"What happened to you …", she asked no one in particular.

Still, she needed some minutes to realize the situation as a whole, but one thing was for sure. "Don't worry, Ash; I'll help you, just like you helped me."

At the moment, Serena had only eyes for Ash and she didn't realize anything else that was happening around her, although it could have changed some events of the future if she did. Caring for the boy, Serena would do everything in her power to make Ash feel better.

Unfortunately, Serena didn't pay attention to the window.

Through the window, to be more specific from the window's ledge at the outside, something watched this scene with an indifferent expression. Actually, this "someone" didn't care at all for the brown-haired girl in this room, but rather the black-haired boy.

It was a bird, but it wasn't Grace's Fletchling though.

Colorful, the flying-type glared at Ash with a weird indifferent expression.

"Chatot!", the bird called quietly before it flapped with its wings to fly away.

Traveling through the sky, the parrot flew to a forest that was approximately five miles away from Grace's house. When it arrived, it landed on a tree stump on a clearing before Chatot waited for a few moments.

Suddenly, two individuals approached the parrot.

"Did you find him?", a male voice asked indifferent.

The bird, with the black head and pink peck, looked at the man, who wore orange sunglasses.

"Chatot … Chat … find him …", the bird answered, using some words from the man.

The orange sunglasses flashed in the sun and the man still had this indifferent facial expression that just didn't want to change, no matter what. Next to him was a woman that wore the exact same sunglasses, but just like him, she didn't show many emotions.

"Is someone with him? Yes or No?", the woman asked, giving the bird the necessary words for an answer.

"Chatot … Yes … someone with him …", Chatot responded.

Now, the woman turned to her 'friend'.

"It seems that he managed to find some help.", she said casually. "I have to admit that he's tougher when we thought, but that was the reason why we made this offer to him anyway."

"It doesn't matter if he found some help.", the man replied indifferent. "We still have to finish our job, in some way or other. Surely, he won't be able to fight us like he did it the last time and it's just important that nobody notices our actions."

"What do we do if he tells someone about us?", the woman asked.

For first time, it seemed as if the man was going to smirk, but it never came to fruition. "I'm sure that we put it across what will happen to individuals that know about us that aren't members of our organization."

Chatot listened patiently.

"We should eliminate him immediately.", the woman with the orange hair said.

"Don't hurry like that!", the man responded. "Like I said, he won't reveal our identity if he knows what's best for the other ones. As long as we don't need to catch unwanted attention, we can allow ourselves to wait until we get him on his own."

"In that case, we should let Chatot spy on him.", she suggested.

"Suits me right. This kid will curse the moment where he denied our offer; a 'No!' isn't acceptable."

* * *

><p>Grace was finished with the preparation of lunch and she was quite satisfied with the result of her work.<p>

"Fletchling, could you get Serena for lunch?", Grace asked her pet-bird.

The robin chirped in agreement before it flapped its wings to fly up the stairs to the girl's room. Squeezing its body through the door, Fletchling looked through the room, but there was no sign of the brunette. Confused, the bird flew a round through the room before it gave up. Eventually, the red-headed bird decided to return to the kitchen.

"Did you tell her?", Grace asked, setting up the table.

The bird shrugged.

That was odd, because Fletching had never had problems to 'force' Serena to come.

"Sometimes, I don't get what the girl is thinking …", Grace sighed.

Now, she walked to the Serena's room, only to learn that her daughter wasn't even there.

'Strange … Is she still in the guestroom?'

When Grace opened quietly the door to the guestroom, she spotted her daughter that kneeled next to the bed and as of yet, she hadn't noticed her mother. Tilting her head, Grace watched curiously how her daughter caressed the boy's face with her right hand.

Unexpectedly, the door made a creaking noise.

Serena immediately jumped to her feet, looking to the door and spotting her mother.

"Mum! Can't you knock on my door first before you step in?", Serena asked with a demanding voice.

"Hmm … Last time I checked, this here wasn't your room.", Grace responded with a good argument.

Serena realized this as well, but she had never liked it when her mother approached her like that. Noticing her mother's expression, the brown-haired girl assumed that Grace saw her during her actions, but Serena would keep her cool nevertheless.

"What's the matter anyway?", Serena said, shrugging.

"Well, I just want to tell you that lunch is ready, but apparently, you are busy with other things.", Grace explained, looking to Ash.

When Serena realized this, she blushed unintentionally.

"It's not what it looked like, mum! I just removed some hair from his face to put the facecloth on it!", Serena explained, looking slightly to the side to cover her blush.

Grace looked onto her watch. "Well, you needed almost an hour for that."

Serena was quite shocked to hear that she already had been an hour in this room since she noticed the boy's identity. Of course, she could tell her mother that she knew Ash, but there were some factors that prevented her to tell the truth. First, it could be that it wasn't Ash after all, although she doubted this possibility and seconds, her mother could assume things after what she had seen.

"Yoo-Hoo!", Grace waved with her hand in front of her daughter's face.

"Uh … what?", Serena wasn't right there yet.

"Is there something that you didn't tell me?", Grace asked and Serena hated it that her mother always knew such things from her.

"No, mum!", Serena answered with annoyance. "Didn't you tell me that lunch is ready? Let's go then."

For now, Grace left it at that and the mother walked down to the kitchen. Meanwhile, Serena took the facecloth off the ground before she put it carefully onto Ash's forehead. She only left reluctantly the room.

During lunch, Serena looked several times over her shoulder to the staircase.

'It feels like a dream, but … it seems to be real that he has come to this region, my home region …'

"Serena, your meal is going to get cold .", Grace said.

"Mum, did the doctor tell you when A - - … the boy will wake up?", Serena asked unexpectedly, ignoring her mother's words completely.

"To be honest, I didn't ask him about that.", Grace responded and her daughter rolled her eyes. "I'm sure it depends on his recovery and his own habits. If he's like you, it could take an eternity."

Another cheap shot on her daughter but Serena was used to that.

Serena still sat thoughtfully on her chair, eating rather slowly.

After she finished eating lunch and feeding Rhyhorn at the outside, Serena walked up the stairs and this time, she actually walked into her own room. As soon as she was there, the brunette immediately looked through all of her belongings, searching for something from her past.

Eventually, she found what she was looking for; a simple handkerchief.

Placing her hand on her knee, Serena was lost in her thoughts again.

'I can't wait until he wakes up …', she thought.

* * *

><p>In the garden, Rhyhorn just ate his deserved lunch on this sunny day. Obviously, he wasn't too disappointed that Serena wouldn't ride him today, but the rock-type stretched his legs nevertheless.<p>

Suddenly, he noticed how something flew into his direction.

Immediately, he realized that it wasn't Fletchling, but a Chatot. It landed with an indifferent expression on the window's ledge of the guestroom before it just glared through the window as if he was waiting for something. Anyway, Rhyhorn couldn't care less, because he still had to eat the rest of his food.

After a few moments, Chatot turned his head slightly to the left.

Seeing the eating Pokémon, Chatot stared down.

Rhyhorn still ate when he suddenly heard something. "Over here!"

Looking everywhere to the sky, where the noise came from, Rhyhorn wondered what it was, but with nothing in eyeshot, the rock-type shrugged before he turned to his food again. Unfortunately, it wasn't only his food anymore, because Chatot already took his own part.

Furiously, the rhino chased the thief away, but Chatot already got enough.

Unhappily for Rhyhorn, Chatot wouldn't only be a temporary visitor.

* * *

><p>After she had been in the guest room again, Serena thought that she would need to get some additional information. It was amazing that she didn't pay much attention to Pikachu at this point, but girls were never easy to read.<p>

"Perhaps, I can find something from him that supports my believe.", Serena wondered aloud.

Once again, she left the guestroom again before she skipped to the living room, where her mother watched the news like always.

"Mum?", Serena caught the attention of her mother. "What do you think about this situation?"

The brunette had to be careful, otherwise her mother could assume something false again.

"What situation? … Oh, you mean the injured boy? Well, I think it was a lucky shot from him to reach our house, especially with his condition.", Grace responded.

"Well, but don't you wonder how he could get injured that heavily.", Serena asked. "I don't think that he just tripped over a root or something like that."

"We can only assume what happened to him until he wakes up, Serena, but until then we should concentrate on his recovery and the one of his Pokémon.", Grace replied casually, taking a nip from her tea.

"But …", Serena didn't like it to wait.

"He's handsome; don't you think so?", Grace said casually.

"Uh … what?", Serena couldn't follow her mother's thoughts.

"This kid; he's handsome, isn't he?", Grace said with a smile.

"Mum, you are way too old for him.", Serena exclaimed seriously.

"What do you think, Serena?", Grace replied, puzzled. "Am I not allowed to tell my opinion about the looks of other individuals? By the way, I'm sure you share my opinion."

"What makes you think that?", the girl responded with a slight tint of red on her cheeks.

"The way you caressed his face.", Grace answered, with a bright smile.

Serena became beet red in her face, especially after her mother told her those words. Once more, she wanted to tell her mum about Ash, but she decided against it. Turning away from her know-it-all mother, Serena turned to a corner, where she spotted something interesting.

"What is that?", Serena asked, pointing to the corner.

Grace looked around her daughter before she got this 'oh yeah' - expression. "That's the backpack of the boy; it was soaked after the rain yesterday, but I guess, it should be dry by now."

"Did you look through it?", Serena asked.

"Kind of.", Grace responded. "I looked for a mobile phone or an address book, but there wasn't anything like that in it. On the other hand, I didn't want to harm his privacy."

Out of nowhere, Serena took the backpack. "I guess, I will look through it as well to make sure that you didn't fail to see something important."

"You don't have to!", Grace said quickly, but her daughter already went up the stairs and into her room.

'This girl always acts after her own rules.'

Closing the door behind her, Serena put the backpack onto the ground before she opened it to look through it with all of her curiosity.

"Come on! There has to be something that reveals something more to me! Maybe he has a diary …", Serena said before she facepalmed. "What kind of boy writes a diary today anymore …"

She found a lot of interesting stuff, but unfortunately not what she was looking for. When she took some cloth out of it, she wondered what it was before she realized that it was a boxer shorts. Blushing, the girl put the underwear away before she continued to search, without success.

"Nothing …", she sighed.

It was a disappointment, although she should have expected it.

Now, she looked into the mirror of her room. Within it, she saw her reflection, a girl that looked rather unsure than confident. Of course, her appearance was important to her and normally, she spent hours in front of her wardrobe, but not today.

"The more I think about it the more I start to go crazy. Do I really need to spy through someone's stuff? I'm sure that Ash wouldn't like it to hear that I did that."

Calming down from her Ash's obsession, Serena started to think logically.

'Well … he has a Pikachu … that could indicate that he's a Pokémon trainer … as much as I know the next gym is in Santalune city … what was his reason to come to this village? Did he want to find me? … Unlikely, how could he know that I'm here …'

Slowly but surely, her head started to hurt.

"I guess, I have to wait until he wakes up …", Serena said sadly before she was shocked. "Oh no! I sound like my mother again!"

* * *

><p>During the course of the day, Serena had been several times within the guest room, but she tried that her mother didn't notice her. It felt like an eternity, but Ash just didn't want to wake up, just like his yellow pal.<p>

This time, Serena gave Rhyhorn his food first before she went to dinner. Strangely enough, Rhyhorn seemed to be more cautious now about his food unlike yesterday. All in all, it wasn't all too eventful and Serena started to become impatient.

Grace allowed her daughter to eat her dinner in front of the TV to watch the news.

There was a short report about the manager of an electrical appliance store that had been hospitalized two days ago, but according to the reporter he was going to be fine. Coincidentally, there hadn't been many sightings of a certain hero, but not many questions were asked.

"I'll quickly look for the boy again.", Grace said after she cleaned the table.

"I can do that!", Serena said out of nowhere, jumping off the couch.

"I appreciate your effort, Serena, but this time, I'll have to give the boy some medicaments that the doctor gave me.", Grace replied.

"Then, I do that as well; no problem.", Serena said.

Grace put her hands on her hips and tilted her head. "It seems that you lay claim to our guests quite too often today."

Serena started to become red again, not hoping that her mother could misinterpret the facts.

"You're just like me when I was younger.", Grace said happily.

"Oh, please, don't say that.", Serena replied, not finding it very funny. At least, her mother gave her daughter the medicaments and Serena quickly walked into the guest room again.

After she gave him something to drink against the fever, Serena waited patiently.

It was quite late, but Serena didn't want to go to the bed now. With the night becoming stronger every second, the brunette put her head on the edge of the bed, resting slightly. Multiple times, she remembered the summer camp where she had met Ash.

Yawning, she drew circles with her finger on the covers.

"Ash, why can't you just wake up …", Serena said weakly.

Time went on and slowly but surely, Serena drifted off to sleep, forgetting to walk into her own room.

After everyone slept within the house, it became very silent.

However, Ash suddenly moved restless in the bed, pulling slightly on the covers that lay on top of him. Although he didn't wake up, the raven-haired boy seemed to be in pain due to something, but nobody noticed it, especially Serena, who slept peacefully.

His face showed different emotions, leading to the conclusion that a nightmare bothered the Kanto trainer during his sleep. Sweat went across his face and the trainer tried to break free from this horror, but unfortunately, it wasn't going to happen.

_Within Ash's dream/ nightmare … _

_Ash found himself on a large area that was completely covered in darkness and the trainer couldn't see anything in the distance. Turning around, he tried to find some light, but it was senseless. _

_Walking through the darkness, Ash felt this incredible sadness that lasted on his shoulders like a rock. _

_Unexpectedly, he heard Pikachu and the small pal seemed to be hit by something. _

"_Pikachu, where are you?", Ash screamed with all of his power, continuing to run through the darkness, however, he just didn't reach his pal nor could he see him anywhere. _

_When he thought that he couldn't take it anymore, Ash saw how his best friend was thrown out of the shadows down to his feet. Immediately, he checked on Pikachu, but the rodent was completely beaten up to the point where it couldn't answer anymore. _

_With a tear running down his cheek, Ash sniffed before he looked up. "Why did you do that?"_

_Now, some indifferent voices spoke from nowhere. _

"_It's your own fault; you should have thought twice about your decision before you denied our offer to join us. Now, we have to eliminate you and every one of your Pokémon unless you rethink your answer."_

_In the distance, Ash could now spot Froakie and his Fletchling that laid motionless on the ground. _

_Immediately, Ash took his Pokéballs to recall them, but he had to realize that he only had a stone within his hand. At the same time, Pikachu breathed even weaker than before and Ash bit on his lips to suppress his crying. _

"_Why do you do that to me?", he yelled angrily. _

"_Isn't it obvious? We'll create a beautiful new world, therefore we have to wipe everything and everyone that not represent our ideals away from this planet."_

"_You're crazy! The world is perfect, just like it is, even with its mistakes!", Ash shouted back with tears. _

"_A world full of mistakes isn't perfect; it's the opposite."_

"_Shut up!", Ash exclaimed with a voice full of anger. "It's not up to you to decide for the fate of billions of individuals!"_

"_Do you think so? Sometimes, you have to decide for other ones when you know better than themselves what the best is for them! If you are too blind to see that, you're just a lost case in that point. With your knowledge about us, however, you're a case that we can't allow to leave again."_

_Suddenly, Pikachu was lifted out of Ash's hand and towards Froakie and Fletching. _

_Standing up, Ash run with all of his power towards them, but no matter how fast he ran, he couldn't reach them until they disappeared in the darkness. Falling to his knees and panting heavily, Ash hammered with his closed fists onto the ground. _

"_So many tears for such an ugly world; what a pity."_

_When Ash lifted his head up again, he saw how something dashed onto him with full force. _

Suddenly, Ash awoke from this nightmare and the raven-haired boy opened his eyes before he sat up, panting heavily and being covered in sweat. Besides the physical pain that he felt, Ash was blinded by bright sunbeams that shone through the window of the room.

After he realized that it just had been a nightmare, Ash tried to calm down.

With the question on his mind where he was, Ash looked confused around. Not knowing this room, the boy tried to remember anything.

Suddenly, however, he noticed a brown-haired girl that slept with her head on the edge of this bed.

* * *

><p><strong>End of chapter!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

><p>Quietly, Ash sat in his bed, where he remained for a few moments to put the puzzle of this situation together. 'It was just a dream,' he thought before he shook slightly his head. 'No, it wasn't …'<p>

His head still hurt and his ribs felt as if a Tauros ran with its horns against them.

Next, the raven-haired boy looked to the sleeping girl and he wondered. 'Who's she? Did she help me when I was unconscious? Strange … I feel such a familiar warmth around her …'

After he removed the covers, Ash noticed that he only wore his trunks and some bandages.

Not wanting to wake the girl up, Ash whispered. "Pikachu, where are you?"

Inch for inch, the boy slid down from the bed until he stood within the room. Fortunately, he immediately spotted the wooden basket with his yellow rodent in it and the Kanto native kneeled down to lift his pal up. A smile appeared on Ash's face, because he felt that Pikachu's condition was much better than the last time he held him.

Turning his head, Ash looked at Serena again. 'I have to thank her a lot, I guess.'

Nevertheless, he still missed his clothes, especially the Pokéballs that were within them.

Silently, he searched through the room, but from his position, he couldn't find his sweatshirt, jeans and gloves. While he was holding his yellow mouse-Pokémon, the boy was suddenly lost in his thoughts again when he remembered the events from two days ago.

"My nightmare wasn't real, but it was dangerously close to it …," Ash said to no one in particular.

During Ash's monologue, Pikachu shivered slightly before he opened slowly his eyes to spot his trainer.

Out of nowhere, the yellow rodent rubbed its head against Ash's cheek and the trainer was completely caught off guard by that. Anyway, he returned this warm greeting and both of them were more than relieved to know that the other one was alright.

"I thought I wouldn't be able to help you …," Ash said with a mix of sadness and happiness.

Their reunion was very quiet though, that's why it woke up a certain brown-haired girl that had some problems to open her eyes. Although she would have preferred to pull the covers over her head, Serena quickly realized that she wasn't in any comfortable sleeping position.

Opening her eyes and lifting her head, she didn't see Ash in front of her anymore, but when she looked to the side, she spotted the back of the trainer that she wanted to wake up. Cuddling with his Pokémon, Ash didn't notice the girl.

Different emotions went through Serena's body, yet at the same time, she was like paralyzed.

Like a statue, the girl looked to the boy, who emitted the same positive aura like the boy that helped her at the summer camp.

"Come on, pal, we have to find my clothes to see how Fletchling and Froakie are doing."

Serena shivered when she heard Ash's voice, because although it sounded slightly more mature, she still heard the same voice of the Ash of her past. All in all, it was very difficult for her to compensate all the realizations right now.

When Pikachu suddenly looked over Ash's shoulder, he became silent. Tilting his head, he only let out a quiet 'Pika?'.

"What's up?" Ash asked, confused.

Turning around, Ash noticed that the girl had woken up, but why didn't she say anything? For a few moments, the two teens just looked at each other, without saying a word.

Ash's brown eyes caught Serena's attention, because they were the final proof to her that the boy in front of him was her lost friend. With a wide smile on her face, Serena wiped a hair from her face, confusing Ash slightly. However, she soon realized that the raven-haired boy wore nothing more than his boxer shorts and the girl unintentionally blushed before she looked at a point next to the trainer.

Despite his confusion, Ash knew what he had to say. "I'm sorry if I woke you up; as your guest, I should know better."

Ash's politeness didn't surprise Serena at all.

"By the way, I'm Ash and this here is my friend, Pikachu," Ash introduced himself and his Pokémon.

"I know this already …" Serena responded knowingly, although she was quite confused why he treated her like a stranger.

The boy had a surprised expression on his face, but he didn't think too much about it. "You can't imagine how thankful I am that you helped me and my Pokémon when we needed your help the most. By the way, could you tell me your name?"

With a shocked facial expression, Serena was silent. ' … doesn't he know me anymore … did he already forget me …'

"I'm Serena," she replied in hope that the mention of her name would remind Ash of her.

"That's a nice name.", Ash responded with a smile, but Serena couldn't feel worse.

"Can't …," Serena stuttered slightly. "Can't you remember me?"

Ash raised an eyebrow.

Suddenly, the door of the room was opened and Grace stepped in with a new set of bandages that were obviously for Ash. No words could describe her surprise when she saw her daughter and the boy that sat in front of each other.

"You finally woke up," Grace said, looking to Ash and then to Serena. "You're already awake as well."

Understandingly, Serena wasn't very happy about her mother's entrance.

Unlike the girl, Ash wasn't shy of words. "Yes, thanks to you, I'm fit again."

"Just because you're awake, doesn't mean that you're completely fit again, but I'm happy to see that you feel better. By the way, you should thank my daughter for your recovery, because she had cared for you since yesterday morning." Grace explained.

Serena felt slightly embarrassed.

"Yesterday morning?" Ash exclaimed. "How long have I been out?"

"I found you two days ago in front of my house." Grace answered.

Ash looked to the ground, dealing with those information. To miss more than one day was incredible much for the raven-haired boy, especially after what he had experienced. Nevertheless, his worries were directed to something else.

"Could I get my clothes? The Pokéballs of my other Pokémon are still within them," Ash explained with a concerned voice.

"Your clothes are within the dryer, but I can assure you that there haven't been any Pokéballs within them," Grace replied truthfully, putting the new bandages onto the bed.

Unnoticed, Serena was still lost in her thoughts.

"Are you completely sure?" Ash asked under pressure. "They have to be there!"

"I'm sure; I only found your Pokédex within them." The woman explained, although she could read Ash's expression enough to know how serious it was for him to know where his spheres were.

Starting to become nervous, Ash stood up before he wanted to go to Grace, but suddenly, he fell onto his knees again. Within the last moment, Serena caught him in a hug and the girl had this feeling of Déjà-vu again.

With Pikachu trapped between them, the rodent could feel Serena's fast heartbeat.

Grace was relieved that her daughter caught this kid. "You shouldn't overstrain yourself. It's important that you rest for a few more days."

"I can't rest as long as I don't know if all of my Pokémon are safe." Ash explained.

"In that case, I'll get your clothes, so you can look through them for your Pokéballs." Grace explained quickly. "Serena, could you please help him into his bed again?"

The brunette didn't answer, but her mother already walked down the stairs to the bathroom.

Actually, Ash tried to stand up on his own, but Serena's arms were wrapped around him and they didn't let him go anywhere. Trying it several more times, the boy became confused, because the girl didn't move at all and didn't say anything.

'It's like the last time …,' Serena thought.

"Serena? Could you stop to squeeze me? I won't fall down anymore." Ash assured.

It was nice to hear how Ash said her name, but Serena was still torn apart inside.

When Ash suddenly flinched in pain due to his ribs, Serena let him go. Covering her blush, the girl wasn't sure if she was supposed to be sad, mad or flattered right now. Too many emotions rivaled each other in her mind.

"I guess, I can sit onto the bed on my own." Ash said before he climbed onto the soft mattress . Next to him, Pikachu took a seat as well, although he ogled at the girl that behaved weirdly around his trainer.

"Could you tell me the name of this place?", Ash started another conversation.

Like before, Serena was too unsure how to handle the situation at this point.

Ash was puzzled, but eventually, Grace returned to the room with Ash's clothes before she put them onto the bed next to the trainer. "That are all of the clothes that you wore and your backpack should still be within the room of my daughter."

"Thanks!" Ash said before he looked through his pockets. When he didn't find the spheres immediately, Ash looked through all of the pockets again, but like Grace had said, there weren't any Pokéballs.

"That can't be! Where could they be then?" Ash started to panic and Pikachu already helped him with his search. Moving hectically, Ash hurt himself more than he wanted, but the thought of his lost friends was a thought that he couldn't bear.

"It's possible that you lost them when I dragged you into my house. I'll look through my house and in the front yard." Grace explained before she left the room once more.

"I would appreciate that," the boy explained honestly, although he still worried.

When her mother was out of eyeshot again, Serena looked up to Ash. "You're Ash Ketchum and you are from Kanto, aren't you?"

"That's right, but how do you know that I'm from Kanto?" Ash asked, with a puzzled expression.

For Ash, it was as if the girl expected something from him.

"SERENA? Could you help me?" Grace's voice echoed through the house.

It wasn't the perfect timing, because Serena wanted Ash to remember.

"You can go and help your mother; I'll be fine." Ash said with a smile. Reluctantly, the girl stood up. Somehow, she knew that Ash wouldn't remember her as long as he would worry about the whereabouts of his Pokémon.

Before she left the room, Serena turned around to say, "It's nice to see you again, Ash."

The puzzlement of Ash was immense and he looked to his Pikachu, but of course, his pal couldn't give him the answer he would need at this point.

* * *

><p>Walking slowly down the stairs, Serena felt sad. Once she was downstairs, she saw how her mother looked through the gaps of the couch, hoping that Ash's Pokéballs slipped between them somehow, but unfortunately, she wasn't lucky at all.<p>

"Serena, could you look through the front yard for any Pokéballs?", Grace said, scratching her head in desperation.

Without words, Serena just nodded before she walked through the front door of the house. At the outside, she slowly looked around, but there weren't any red and white objects besides Rhyhorn's football that looked like a Pokéball.

'Why can't he remember me …,' Serena thought sadly.

Leaving his kennel, Rhyhorn looked puzzled to the deep-in-thought Serena and the rock-type let out a small call to catch her attention. Seemingly, it worked and the girl was finally out of her trance, but her sadness just didn't want to go away.

"Did you see some Pokéballs? Apparently, Ash lost them when you found him during the thunderstorm." Serena asked casually.

Rhyhorn tilted his head before he shook it.

"I'll help him, but I don't have a clue where his Pokémon could be." She said.

Unfortunately, Rhyhorn wasn't her only listener at this point.

When she entered the house again, Serena saw her mother and the adult put her hands on her hips.

"I looked everywhere, but I just can't find those spheres anywhere." Grace said before she assumed. "Perhaps, the boy just imagines that he has more Pokémon after he got this hit on his head."

Serena became slightly angry at her mother. "How can you even think that, mum? Didn't you see how much Ash worries about his missing Pokémon? There's no way that he just imagines such feelings!"

Grace was slightly intimidated by her own daughter.

"His name is Ash?" Grace replied.

"Yes it is and he's the most caring person ever, so don't think badly of him." Serena explained.

"You already know much about him," Grace noticed. "Anyway, I looked everywhere and I just couldn't find any Pokéballs in this house and according to your expression, you couldn't find them in the front yard neither."

Serena was surprised by her own words. Although Ash didn't remember her, she still can't deny how much she admired him.

Suddenly, the two females heard noises from the stairs and both of them were shocked to see that Ash walked down to them, wearing all of his clothes. Nevertheless, he was far from ready to move like that again and Grace immediately supported the boy.

"Didn't I tell you that you shouldn't overstrain yourself?" Grace said sternly while leading Ash to the kitchen table.

"It's not as bad as it looks like. Really." He assured.

Serena noticed how Ash's Pikachu followed his trainer, but obviously, the rodent wasn't healthy enough to jump onto the kitchen table on his own, therefore she helped him to get onto it. Once, everyone sat at the table, Grace had to admit that she couldn't find Ash's Pokéballs anywhere.

"I'm sorry, but we couldn't find anything." Grace admitted.

Ash's disappointment was almost visible, but suddenly, something landed on the table.

"Fletchling? Is that you …," Ash asked with a hopeful voice, but soon, he noticed it. "No, you aren't mine …"

The robin tilted its head at the new individual and it immediately chatted with Pikachu.

"Does that mean that you have a Fletchling as well?", Grace asked curiously.

"Yes! I caught it shortly after I left Lumiose city towards Santalune city, but I also have a Froakie that I miss." Ash explained, although he wasn't very enthusiastic when he talked about his friends that he couldn't find.

Serena listened carefully. "When did you see them for the last time?"

"It was when …," he wanted to answer, but he stopped mid-sentence. It seemed as if Ash was deep in thought and if he struggled to come up with an answer. Obviously, something was on his mind that he couldn't tell Serena and her mother.

Serena became suspicious.

"It was on my way to your house." Ash explained hesitantly.

"To be honest, could you tell us how you could be injured?" Grace asked.

Once again, Ash couldn't answer immediately, but it was just for the best. Coming up with a lie, the raven-haired trainer tried to protect this family with his story. "Well, I climbed up a tree to see the location, but I fell down and hurt my ribs."

"That had to be a nasty fall." Grace explained, shocked.

Unlike her mother, Serena couldn't believe Ash's words, not because she didn't trust him, but she sensed Ash's uneasy response. Moreover, Ash's Pikachu was just as hurt as him and how likely was it that both of them had the same accident.

"I need to find them …," Ash said determined.

"At the moment, you shouldn't dare to leave the house, but I know how important it is for you," Grace said before she turned to her Fletchling. "Fletchling, could you fly along the road towards the forest and try to find the Pokéballs of Ash?"

The robin nodded enthusiastically before it left the house through the kitchen window.

"I'm really sorry that I put you out." Ash said, feeling bad.

"You don't have to feel sorry." Grace answered with a smile.

Unexpectedly, Ash's stomach growled loudly and it wasn't a surprise. After all, Ash hadn't eaten anything for two days, but could he think about food when his Pokémon weren't with him? Embarrassed, the boy tried to suppress the growling, but it became even louder.

"It's breakfast time anyway, so let's eat something." Grace said.

"I can't - -," Ash said.

"You have to trust our Fletchling." Grace explained knowingly. "At the moment, you should concentrate on your recovery though."

Ash reluctantly waited in the kitchen, Grace prepared breakfast and Serena mysteriously disappeared within her room.

* * *

><p>Jumping onto her bed belly-first, Serena covered her face in one of her pillows. It hadn't been very easy for her to deal with all of her emotions since yesterday, but when Ash didn't remember her, it was just too much for her.<p>

'Why doesn't he remember me? …'

Serena turned her head to the mirror of her cupboard. 'I still look like at the summer camp, don't I? … Well, I'm taller and older, but I still have the same hair … After all, I remembered him as well after all those years …'

"My mum doesn't make it easy for me either …," Serena said to no one in particular. "I don't know why, but I don't want that he remembers me in front of my mum for some reason …"

During the next moment, she spotted a handkerchief that she had put onto her night table yesterday.

'All the time, I wanted to return it to him …'

Suddenly, she sat up on her bed and took heart.

' I won't give up and I can't be angry at him, no matter what … it's not easy for him as well …'

* * *

><p>The sky was cloudless and it were optimal conditions for a search. Flying slowly and near the ground, Fletchling looked for something that could look like a Pokéball. Normally, it shouldn't be difficult to find something red in grass, but as of now, Fletchling hadn't been lucky.<p>

Half along the way, the robin landed on the road, resting a bit and looking slowly around.

After it couldn't find anything, it flapped with its wings to continue the search.

After a while, Fletching tilted its head in mid-air, because it could recognize something red, not far away from the road. It didn't take it long to realize that it was a Pokéball and the robin became happy that he found one of them. Apparently, Ash lost them when he fell down during his way.

Flying down, Fletching aimed for the spot where he found the sphere.

Out of nowhere, someone else preempt Fletchling and this someone was no one else than Chatot.

The parrot took the minimized Pokéball within its peck before it flapped with its wings.

Only now, Fletchling noticed that Chatot already had another Pokéball within one of its feet.

Shouting something to the thief, Fletchling tried to be the voice of reason when it told Chatot that those Pokéballs belonged to a trainer at its house. However, the parrot shrugged before it flew away towards the forest in the distance.

Taking up the pursuit, the robin shouted several times towards Chatot, without much effect.

The chase eventually leaded to a clearing where Chatot landed on top of a tree stump. After Fletchling landed right next to the fellow bird, the robin started to argue with the parrot, but Chatot couldn't care less about the red-headed bird.

"What do we have here?"

Fletchling didn't see it coming what came next.

* * *

><p>Grace just served breakfast, but Ash still looked out of the window.<p>

"It's finished; you can eat as much as you want." Grace said with a smile.

Ash still felt slightly uncomfortable. On the other hand, he couldn't deny that he was almost starving, therefore he accepted this breakfast and fortunately, Grace also had some Pokémon food for Pikachu and the yellow rodent ate happily.

Due to Fletchling's absence, Grace had to get her daughter for breakfast.

When Ash was alone with Pikachu, he stopped with eating.

"Listen, Pikachu!" Ash said, concerned. "As soon as we have Froakie and Fletchling with us, we'll thank Serena and her mother for their help before we leave."

Pikachu looked sadly to the ground, but it understood.

"I can't thank them enough, but it's just too dangerous to be here with them for too long. I could never forgive myself if we pull them into this whole disaster." Ash explained knowingly, being slightly lost in his thoughts again.

Eventually, Grace and Serena joined Ash at the table.

Unlike before, Serena seemed less lost in thought. On the contrary, she seemed to be completely attentive and Ash felt more and more uncomfortable around here, for some odd reason.

When everyone was eating, Grace couldn't suppress her curiosity.

"My daughter told me that your name is Ash, right? Could you tell us something about you?" Grace asked politely.

"Uh …," Ash was caught off guard. "I'm Ash Ketchum and I'm from Kanto."

"From Kanto?", Grace said in surprise. "My daughter once attended a summer camp in Kanto."

Serena looked to her mother. It wasn't in her interest that her mum talked with Ash about this camp, but on the other hand, she was curious about Ash' reaction. Unfortunately, Ash didn't think too much about it, because there were too many other things on his mind.

"Wow; those cookies are delicious!" Ash exclaimed when he ate something.

"You like them?" Grace asked curiously. "To be honest, my daughter made them a few days ago."

Serena immediately blushed again in a good way.

"Your daughter is a very talented baker then," Ash said truthfully.

All in all, it was a nice breakfast, but subconsciously, everyone waited for the return of Fletchling, but the bird just didn't come back to the house. After the breakfast, Ash thanked Grace once again before he stood up. Despite being shaky on his legs, the trainer could at least walk around.

"It was a hectic morning …," Grace admitted, remembering something. "Normally, I wanted to replace your bandages."

"That's not necessary!" Ash assured.

"Well, the doctor recommended it though." Grace said convincingly.

"You already did so much for me; it's really not necessary." Ash replied.

"At least, you could take a bath and relax for the time being." Grace suggested.

"A bath after breakfast? Shouldn't I rather wait for your Fletchling to come back?" Ash couldn't control the situation anymore.

"Don't worry about that," Grace assured with a smile. "I'll wait for Fletching and it isn't like that you'll leave us today again anyway."

Ash's plan actually looked different, but Grace insisted that the raven-haired boy would receive a nice recovery in this house. Reluctantly, the boy agreed to take a bath, although he didn't want to bring this family into trouble at all.

"Serena, could you show him where the bathroom is?" Grace looked to her daughter and the girl nodded in agreement. It was weird how quiet she had been the whole time, but perhaps, she wasn't such a chatterbox like her mother.

Pikachu stayed within the kitchen with the former Rhyhorn racer.

Slowly, Serena leaded Ash through the house to the bathroom. After she had opened the door, Ash entered the nice-looking bath before he spotted his Pokédex. Immediately, he went to it and checked on it before he put it into his pocket again.

Now, he heard how the door was closed again.

Pulling his shirt over his head, the boy thought that a bath could do miracles for his exhausted muscles and hurting bones. For a few moments, he was once again lost in his thoughts, where he still looked for a solution for his problems.

Strangely enough, he suddenly heard how the lock of the door was locked up and the trainer turned around.

Serena still stood within the bathroom, with her back leaning against the door.

* * *

><p><strong>End of chapter!<strong>

**(A/N: Expected amount of chapters for this story - 10 or less)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

><p>'Oh boy, Serena … what are you doing?' Serena thought, questioning her own actions at the moment that leaded her to the decision to seek for some time alone with Ash, even if it was within the bathroom.<p>

On the other hand, Ash was quite confused what this girl was thinking.

Although he stood in front of the girl without his shirt, the boy didn't feel very embarrassed about it. If the girl had seen him at a swimming pool in his swimming trunks, he wouldn't have been embarrassed as well.

"Can I help you somehow?" Ash asked naively, trying to sound as polite as possible.

Looking to a corner, the brown-haired girl couldn't believe Ash's naivety, but this characteristic was perhaps the reason why she didn't forget him after all those years.

"You can help me if you answer a question," she said tensely.

"Well, no problem, just ask." Ash had never feared any questions so far.

Determined to tell him everything about their past meeting, Serena looked to the ground. It wasn't as if she hadn't seen Ash without his shirt. Actually, she had seen him more without than with it, but she was just a bit shy.

"During breakfast, my mother talked about this Pokémon summer camp that professor Oak hosted all those years ago in your home region. Like she said, I was there as well, although I was forced to go there against my will." Serena explained as if it had been yesterday.

The boy looked thoughtfully before he remembered something.

"Now that I think more about it, I was at such a summer camp as well." Ash said funnily. "It surprises me that your mother sent you all the way to Kanto to attend it, although I have to admit that it was a great experience."

Well at least Ash remembered a camp, but was it the same camp that she thought of? After all, Serena couldn't be one-hundred percent sure that Ash didn't attend more summer camps than the one that she had attended.

Serena hadn't asked a question so far.

"You wore a red and yellow sleeveless shirt, short blue trousers, and red and whit shoes." Serena listed something that she couldn't forget.

"Uh …," Ash was speechless, although he had to think a lot to remember that. "That's right; how do you know that?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Serena asked, tilting her head.

With a puzzled expression, Ash showed her that it wasn't so obvious, at least not for him. After a few moments, he just assumed something. "Could it be that you saw me at the camp?"

Right now, Serena regretted it that she didn't take the handkerchief down to the bathroom, but it shouldn't take long until it would make 'click' for Ash eventually. Although she looked most of the time onto the ground, the girl peeked several times to Ash to see his reactions.

"You once looked for a Poliwag in the forest." She continued.

Once again, Ash scratched his head, thinking about the events at the camp. "Oh, right. Unfortunately, I lost its trace early, but then I found - - -"

"SERENA! WHERE ARE YOU?" Grace's voice echoed through the whole house.

Serena almost grew red with anger, but it was her own fault. Why did she need so much time to tell him that she knew him? Of course, she wanted that he remembered her on his own, but unfortunately, her mother was unusual eager to talk with her daughter quite often today.

When Serena didn't answer, Grace called again.

"Your mother is calling you," Ash pointed out.

Suppressing some tears, the girl bit on her lips, but suddenly, her expression changed to the opposite when she remembered Ash's words from her past.

After she unlocked the door and opened it again, Serena fought with some choices that she had. "I'll give you a hint, Ash. Instead of the Poliwag, you found someone who wants you to remember her; …. Me."

Immediately after, she left the bathroom and closed the door again, leaving Ash with a realization that he had to understand at first. When she closed the door again, Serena didn't let go off the doorknob and the brunette wondered what would happen now.

Shortly thereafter, her mother appeared right behind her.

"What are you doing?" She asked curiously. "You shouldn't enter the bath while Ash is taking a bath."

"It's none of your business, mum." Serena responded harshly, hating her mother today for obvious reasons.

"I think it's partly my business when my underage daughter wants to peek at a bathing boy." Grace explained seriously, seeing it as her duty as Serena's mother to raise her as a polite girl.

Blushing, Serena wanted to yell at her mother, but then, Ash would hear it as well and she didn't want him to hear her like that. Hoping that the boy finally remembered her, Serena forgot her mixed emotions and turned around.

"Didn't you look for me?" Serena asked casually.

"No, I just like it to shout through the house for no reason." Grace answered sarcastically.

"Ha-ha." Serena pretended to laugh.

"There's something else that you could do and it would be a favor for Ash." Grace explained and she looked to the table in the living room, where Pikachu had rolled itself into a ball to sleep again. Obviously, the yellow rodent was still exhausted and the visibly scratches on its body looked nasty.

Serena became curious what her mother wanted her to do.

* * *

><p>Within the bathroom, Ash subconsciously filled the bath tube with water. On his mind were still Serena's words that she had said before she left the bathroom. According to her, they had met at the summer camp, but for unknown reason, those memories weren't available for Ash yet.<p>

"I don't think that she's lying, but why can't I remember that meeting?" Ash wondered aloud.

After he stepped into the bath tube, the raven-haired boy remained in there while he thought heavily about his past. Clueless as ever, he realized that he had had so many adventures in his life that it became difficult to remember all of them immediately.

"I wonder why she doesn't tell me what she knows … I'm not good at guessing games to be honest. According to her, I found her instead of a Poliwag, but what happened then? Well, I have to admit that her face looks very familiar, but I just can't connect it with a memory of my past."

Even with time passing on, the boy couldn't explain to himself what he was supposed to remember.

"I guess, I have to ask her if she's able to tell me more about it." Ash said to no one in particular and finally, he could enjoy the nice bath.

Washing some blood and dirt away from his body, the trainer tried to free his mind, at least for a few minutes.

It took him more than half an hour until he decided to leave the tube, but again, he felt the pain that annoyed him during the whole morning. Slowly but surely, he dressed up again with many thoughts on his minds that needed to be answered.

Strangely enough, he could hear how a door of the house was closed.

* * *

><p>On a familiar clearing, an orange-haired man sat on a tree-stump and looked emotionless to the trees of the forest. Unlike him, his female coworker walked restless around, not being as calm as the man.<p>

"I don't want to wait any longer." She said, annoyed.

"Calm down! I'm sure we will soon have the optimal opportunity to confront him again." The man answered indifferent. "After all, we have two good reasons for him to come back to us and perhaps, our plan to recruit him hasn't completely failed yet."

"Do you still want him to join us? I could do without it," the orange-haired woman responded.

"We just need to open his eyes and quickly, he'll realize that our intentions are the best. If that isn't the case, we'll still have the chance to wipe him away from this earth." The man replied, shrugging, because it didn't matter to him.

"What if he doesn't try to get his Pokémon back?" The woman asked hypothetically.

"Last time he fought us, he would have sacrificed himself for his Pokémon, therefore I'm confident that he'll come to us quickly," he answered with the same indifferent voice like always.

Apparently, the girl couldn't convince her teammate to stop waiting, but she still wanted to know about their next steps. Looking to a spot of a forest, she remembered what Chatot brought to them and who followed him to this place.

"What do we do with this second Fletchling?" She asked, not looking to the man.

"I don't know yet, but it followed Chatot to us and it seemed that it wanted those Pokéballs of the kid."

"Could it be that he revealed something about us and now, those people help him to look for us?" The woman assumed.

"If a Fletchling is everything what they got, it won't be difficult to silence them as well." The orange-haired guy responded casually and it seemed that nothing could change his weird attitude. "We'll wait until Chatot comes back with a report before we decide anything."

* * *

><p>Eventually, Ash left the bathroom and he immediately looked for Grace and Serena. As soon as he entered the living room again, he spotted Serena's mum and the woman had the same happy attitude like always.<p>

"I have to thank you for the bath," Ash said politely.

"You don't have to thank us for it, but don't you want to go to bed again?" Grace asked, with a tone that sounded more than a request than a question.

"I'm not tired, really!" Ash waved with his hands, not wanting to waste more time. "By the way, did your Fletchling return? It's important for me."

"I'm sorry, but it hadn't returned yet. We have to give it more time." Grace responded sadly and Ash lowered his head in disappointment. Actually, a Fletchling shouldn't need too much time to fly all the way that Ash walked two days ago.

"Well, where's your daughter?" Ash asked yet another question, looking around.

Grace smiled guiltily.

Moreover, Ash realized that Pikachu wasn't anywhere and the trainer became confused where everyone was. His best friend wasn't in the living room, neither was he in the kitchen that was combined with the living room.

"I hope you aren't angry." Grace said hopefully. "My daughter took your Pikachu and she's on her way to the Pokémon centre of Aquacorde town."

"She's WHAT?" Ash started to become restless and his face showed a complete shocked expression.

"It's not a big deal!" Grace tried to calm Ash down. "It's necessary that Pikachu is checked up by a nurse Joy. As his trainer, you should think the same."

Of course, Ash wanted his Pikachu to feel better, but it wasn't a very good idea to walk along that road, especially when someone was with you that a certain team wanted to eliminate. Millions of scenarios went through Ash's mind and none of those was very good.

"Why didn't you ask me first?" Ash said hectically.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you for permission, but Serena was very eager to leave as quickly as possible, that's why she took your sleeping Pikachu with her." Grace answered understandingly, still trying to calm Ash down.

The face of Ash spotted a shocked expression.

'Damn it … I didn't see that coming … If she walks past this forest, they could probably see her and Pikachu … I need to prevent that!' Ash thought tensely.

"When did she leave?" Ash asked hectically.

"She left a few minutes ago, but don't worry, she won't be away for long." Grace replied enthusiastically, not understanding the seriousness of this situation. Apparently, it had been Serena that closed the door when Ash dressed up in the bathroom.

There was still time and Ash went past Grace.

When he wanted to open the front door, Grace blocked his way and she had a questioned look on her face. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Uh … I just want to breathe some fresh air." Ash lied.

"Like I said, you shouldn't leave the house with your condition." Grace replied, showing some of her responsibility towards her guest that needed more rest. "If you like, we can open the windows in the guestroom."

When Grace leaded Ash to the stairs, the boy knew that he couldn't let this happen.

"You don't understand; your daughter is in danger." Ash exclaimed unexpectedly.

At first, Grace was slightly caught off guard by Ash's words, but she couldn't think of a reason why her daughter should be in danger. "What do you mean with she's in danger? She had walked to Aquacorde town very often since we live here."

"You have to believe me; we have to call her back!" Ash clenched his fists, looking as determined as ever.

"Can you tell me why you think that?" Grace asked, wanting to know more.

The raven-haired boy couldn't tell her about the organization. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you the reason, however, you need to believe me!"

At first, Grace was slightly taken back by Ash's serious, but she just couldn't believe what Ash couldn't tell her. Placing a comforting hand on Ash's shoulder, the woman smiled warmly at the boy before she explained to him what she thought.

"I understand that you're overprotective after your accident and that's all too natural, but you shouldn't burden yourself with worries where no worries need to be. You should go to bed again and I promise you that after you wake up, Serena, Pikachu and Fletchling will be back."

"But …," Ash replied resistively before he stopped. "Perhaps, you're right."

"I see you understand." Grace was satisfied and she smiled.

"Probably another rest could calm me down." Ash said rationally. "Well, I'm in the guest room."

With those words, the Kanto-native walked slowly up the stairs. Obviously, he was still hurt and it took him a lot of power to manage all the stairs up to the first floor. Being concerned, Grace asked him if he needed something, but the boy denied.

'He's so caring for everyone, even for those that he haven't known for long …,' the woman thought with a dreamy expression.

* * *

><p>In the front yard, Rhyhorn just licked out the rest of Pokémon from his bowl . Only a few minutes earlier, Serena had passed him and strangely enough, she carried that Pokémon of the boy with her, but according to Serena, she wouldn't be away for long.<p>

Only when he was sure that nothing was left in his bowl, Rhyhorn pushed it to the side.

Placing his head on the ground, the rock-type wanted to take a nap, but a noise prevented him from it.

Looking up to the house, the rhino saw how the window of the guestroom opened and then, he spotted the face of the raven-haired boy. Actually, Rhyhorn wondered the whole time how that boy was doing.

Looking carefully to every side, Ash inspected the area.

After he stepped with one foot onto the window's ledge, Ash wasn't so sure about this anymore, but he continued to climb out of the window. On the ground, Rhyhorn couldn't believe what he was seeing.

'I need to catch up with her,' Ash thought.

Suddenly, he slipped with his leg from the wall and the boy only hung with his arms at the window's ledge. When the pain from his bruised ribs reappeared again, he couldn't hold on any longer and he fell down onto the flowers beneath his room.

When he hit the ground, Ash had to cover his own mouth to suppress his urge to scream in pain.

Fortunately, it wasn't too loud for Grace to hear it.

Immediately, Rhyhorn dashed to the boy and he actually wanted to notify Grace about this accident.

When Ash realized this, he waved with his hands and pleaded the rock-type to stay quiet.

"Please, don't call for Grace." Ash put his hands together and begged.

Fortunately, the Pokémon followed his wish, but it still didn't know why Ash climbed out of the window in the first place. After Ash was sure that Serena's mother didn't hear anything, he climbed out of the flowerbed despite his hurting bones.

"Thanks that you didn't call for her." Ash thanked the rhino before he remembered him. "You're the Rhyhorn that I saw before I blacked out two days ago, right? You can imagine how thankful I am for your help, but I don't have time to waste!"

Stumbling along the way, Ash left the front yard.

With a worried expression, the rhino looked at him.

* * *

><p>"You just told us that this Pikachu of this kid left the house where it had been for the last two days, but it's not with its trainer?"<p>

"Chatot … right .. Chat," the parrot replied indifferent.

"What do you think about this?" The familiar orange-haired woman asked her teammate.

"Hmm .. It's a move that I didn't expect …," he responded. "Chatot, is someone else with this Pikachu?"

"Chatot … someone else with Pikachu … a girl .. Chatot," Chatot answered and revealed some important information to his owners. As soon as the bird revealed the facts, the man with the orange glasses seemed to be in thoughts.

"What is this kid planning?", the woman said angrily. "Does he send this girl to another city to tell the police about us?"

"Unlikely …," the man replied. "If he wants to reveal our identity to the police, he could just have used the phone. On the other hand, we can't exclude the possibility that this girl knows about us, even if the odds are low."

"If you ask me, we should just make sure that this girl won't be able to reveal anything." The woman said, determined. "It annoys me that we waste so much time for this kid. Our little recruitment turned into a complete mess."

"Chatot … girl on way … Chatot … to us," the parrot said without demand.

The atmosphere of the orange team changed suddenly and both of the team looked at each other before they nodded in agreement.

* * *

><p>Un unknowing girl used the same road that her childhood friend used before her.<p>

With her pink clothes and her ponytail, Serena walked along the road towards the nearest city. It wasn't the first time that she used it, but never before, had she been so lost in her thoughts on this way. Fortunately, it was very warm and the sun shone brightly down from the sky onto the ground.

'He even remembered the Poliwag, but not me …' Serena thought sadly. 'Hopefully, this huge hint that I gave him will bring his memories back though.'

In her arms, she carried a yellow mouse that slept peacefully and somehow, Serena couldn't hide her smile. She didn't know why, but this Pikachu reminded her so much on Ash that she even blushed at the thought.

'I couldn't resist to follow my mum's request when she told me that I would do Ash a huge favor with this. Well, to be honest, I'm slightly nervous …,' Serena thought nervously. 'I've never been to a Pokémon centre before, but at least, I know where it is …'

Serena now imagined dozens of scenarios how Ash would react when she would come back.

Shifting Pikachu's weight onto her left arm, Serena pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket.

'I hated the Pokémon summer camp, but then, I met him …'

Suddenly, she noticed how the Pokémon within her arms moved slightly and only moments later, Pikachu opened his eyes. Spotting Serena's face and the blue sky behind it, the rodent seemed to be quite confused what was going on.

"Pika?," the rodent said carefully.

"Don't worry, Pikachu; I'll just bring you to a Pokémon centre." Serena explained, smiling.

Unexpectedly, Pikachu looked nervously around and he realized that he was close to the location where he and Ash had this fateful 'meeting' with those guys. Trying to get out of Serena's arms, the yellow mouse used all of his power.

"What's wrong, Pikachu?" Serena asked, surprised. "I know I'm not your trainer, but I don't want to harm you in any way."

Reluctantly, she put the rodent onto the ground, placing her hand in front of her heart and hoping that she didn't do anything wrong. The last thing she wanted to do was it to anger Ash or his Pokémon.

Being as attentive as always, the electro-type looked tensely around. Fortunately, he couldn't see anyone, especially this team. Using his nose as another way to assure himself, Pikachu sniffed and at first, he couldn't sense anything abnormal.

Turning into the direction, Serena came from, the mouse pointed into this direction.

"Actually, we need to follow the way into this direction to reach the Pokémon centre." Serena explained, pointing into the opposite direction.

Shaking his head, the rodent refused to lead Serena right towards the danger.

"What's wrong with you?" Serena asked, tilting her head. "You have to trust me; I just want to bring you to the next Pokémon centre."

Once more, the mouse refused to follow Serena into that direction.

"I promised my mum to do this, so please don't make me break my promise," Serena pleaded.

No way! The rodent knew why he did what he did.

Out of nowhere, Pikachu heard a rustling noise from one of the bushes and the rodent prepared himself to battle, but his wounds showed their effect. Dropping onto his very small knees, Pikachu knew the seriousness of this situation.

"What was this?" Serena asked fearfully. "Wild Pokémon rarely come to this road."

In a moment where Serena looked to the road, Pikachu fell for some reason onto his belly.

When she realized it, Serena immediately checked on the poor electro-type. Strangely enough, she heard how the mouse breathed calmly as if he was sleeping again. It was weird that the rodent could be so active at one second, then asleep during another. Even shaking couldn't wake Pikachu up and Serena started to be fearful again.

When she turned the rodent around, she noticed a very small arrow that stuck in the rodent's belly.

"What is this?" She asked.

When it couldn't get worse, she heard another rustling noise from the bushes.

Lifting her head again, she saw how a man with orange sunglasses, an orange suit and orange hair walked towards her. His ice-cold charisma sent waves of shivers through Serena's body and somehow, she felt that this person wasn't very friendly.

* * *

><p>Walking slowly, Ash walked along the way that he already had to master once when he was banged up.<p>

'Where's she? … darn … with this speed, I won't catch up with her in an eternity …,' Ash thought, putting a hand on his chest that started to hurt heavily due to his increased breathing. 'I could never forgive myself if she gets involved in all of this …'

Stopping for a few moments, Ash took several deep breaths.

Continuing to follow the girl, Ash had to deal with more and more pain. Many wounds that only healed slightly during the last two days opened again, causing a lot of pain that the raven-haired boy couldn't handle again.

In addition to the pain, Ash started to get a feeling that he didn't want to have at this moment. It was fear. Since he got away from them, Ash hadn't said the name of the team that made his life a living hell during the last few days.

"This Team Flare! I can't forgive them …," Ash said seriously.

Unfortunately, his mind was overstrained with the pain and to protect him, his body just backed out.

Falling onto the street again, the boy couldn't follow Serena and Pikachu anymore.

* * *

><p><strong>End of chapter!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

><p>With every step that the unknown man came closer, Serena felt more and more unsure of this situation and she didn't know what to do at all. It was as if she knew why she was fearful right now, but on the other hand, she didn't want it to be true.<p>

Having his hands in his pockets, the man walked slowly to the girl and the rodent.

Serena could feel how her heart started to race.

Ten feet in front of the girl, the unknown man stopped and it made Serena crazy that she couldn't read the man's expression. It was just too indifferent.

Holding Pikachu in her arms, the girl waited just for a response, no matter of which kind.

"Do you want something from me?" Serena asked after she couldn't bear this silence any longer.

The man looked to Pikachu, then to the girl again and apparently, he was thinking about something.

"It seems that those brats from Aquacorde town shot at your Pikachu with their air rifle," the man said casually, without any emotions.

Of course, Serena was confused, although she knew that something hit Pikachu on its belly. Being unsure, she just wanted to leave and the girl took some steps to the back. "Well, at least, Pikachu wasn't hurt by it and I'm on my way to a Pokémon centre anyway."

'No way that he's telling the truth,' she thought subconsciously.

"You shouldn't underestimate such a hit, girl," the man said. "You're lucky that I saw how it happened and I can also examine this Pokémon."

With every step that Serena took, the man took a step as well.

"I don't want to be disgraceful, but I don't think it's necessary." Serena responded, walking backwards.

Realizing that this strategy might not work, the orange-haired man stopped and thought silently about the different possibilities what the girl was thinking. It wasn't clear whether the girl knew his organization or not, but he wouldn't start with hasty violence.

"Are you satisfied with this world," he asked unexpectedly.

Being completely caught of guard, Serena stopped as well and she was confused what the man meant.

"Sorry, what did you say?" Serena asked carefully.

"You heard right! I want to know if you are satisfied with this world." The man repeated.

" … why do you ask that?" Serena questioned.

"Can't you give me an answer?" The man put Serena under pressure.

" … … … … I like our world, although …" Serena answered slowly.

When Serena said although, the man raised an eyebrow and apparently, he seemed to be sure about something, which confused Serena even more. Actually, there would have been hundred other ways to reach his goal, but the man just decided for this one.

"Apparently, he didn't tell you about us, but we can't take a risk." The man said coldly.

Shivering, Serena had a presentiment and she started to walk backwards again.

Suddenly, she bumped into something that stood behind her and Serena didn't even have the time to turn around when someone held a cloth in front of her mouth and nose. Immediately, her eyelids felt heavy and the girl became sleepy until she blacked out.

* * *

><p>Ash laid unconscious on the road and the trainer couldn't be more helpless. Out of fear, he didn't want to involve anyone else into this chaos, but the more he tried to keep Serena out of it the more she became involved in his conflict with Team Flare.<p>

Another breeze went across the area and through Ash's hair.

Suddenly, noises of steps could be heard that approached the raven-haired boy from behind.

Ash's vision was still completely dark, he didn't even dream and he would perhaps lay on the ground for hours if nothing had happened. Then, for some reason Ash's mind was working again and he felt how something touched his face. It was rough and wet. Was something or someone licking his face?

* * *

><p>"What was that all about?" An orange-haired woman said harshly to her teammate. "Don't tell me that you tried to recruit this girl for our organization."<p>

"I've never offered her something like that." The man replied, looking down to the sleeping girl and the sleeping Pikachu. "It's just interesting to see that so many people aren't sure what to think about this ugly world."

"You're so unprofessional." She replied. "We could just have hit her with a sleep-arrow like this Pikachu before we would have taken this unwanted rodent with us. She wouldn't even have seen us."

"You were so sure that she doesn't know anything about us, weren't you?" The man replied.

"Fact?! She doesn't know about us." The female criminal exclaimed.

"She still doesn't know about us," the man clarified. "On the other hand, there has to be a reason why Ash sent this girl along this road, although he knew what would happen."

On the ground, Serena felt terrible and her mind was a complete mess, but for some reason she wasn't completely out. With a terrible headache, the girl slowly but surely could realize her surroundings again, although she felt very weak, not being able to lift her arms or legs.

Nevertheless, she could hear a conversation.

"Who cares what this brat thinks!"

"You're such a rookie! If you don't plan your next steps, you'll only cause problems for Team Flare, therefore you have to listen to me and follow my orders."

"Don't talk with me like that!"

"Be careful! You still have to learn to control your emotions, but I'm generous enough to go easy on you. Moreover, do I have to remind you that it was you who attacked Ash without waiting for the perfect opportunity?"

When Serena heard this fact, her heart almost stopped.

"To wait. That's everything you do."

"Perfection needs time, but it's senseless to argue about this topic again. Currently, we have to think about this girl and what we do with her. On the one hand, we could easily leave her here, but on the other hand, it's perhaps better to lock her up somewhere until we finished our business with Ash."

'No …,' Serena thought desperately. 'They will hurt Ash again …'

Opening her eyes, she could see the two orange-colored people.

Fortunately, she regained her feeling in her legs and arms in time. Out of reflex, Serena sat up before she took Pikachu off the ground. Within another second, she already dashed along the road towards her home in hope to get away, but she almost tripped several times when her legs were still slightly dazed.

Almost immediately, the orange-haired man noticed the runaway. "What the heck? I thought you knocked her out."

"I did!" The woman defended herself.

"You didn't use enough chloroform on the cloth, didn't you? If you want something to be done right, you have to do it yourself." The man exclaimed, slightly mad at his teammate.

Running away with Pikachu in her arms, Serena soon reached the limit of her physical endurance, but so many things suddenly made sense for her. Running for her life, she didn't dare to turn around and she just wanted to be away from this so-called Team Flare.

"She's as rebellious as this boy," the male Team Flare member said indifferent before he took a Pokéball. "Ariados, stop this girl!"

Materializing, the spider left its sphere before it shot a spider web towards the girl that didn't even see it coming. The net wrapped itself around the body of the girl and Serena was completely immobilized as a result, which caused her to fall down onto the hard road.

It was painful, but Serena's fear was stronger than the pain.

Trying everything in her power to free herself, she almost crawled like a worm along the way.

Approaching their victim, Team Flare had a serious expression.

"I assume she heard some parts of our conversation," the man said, emotionless. "I hope you learned something from your mistake."

"If we had acted the way I told you, it wouldn't have happened like that." The woman always found a way to counter.

"Anyway, it's obvious that we can't let her go anymore." The man said casually, stopping twenty feet in front of Serena, who still tried to get away. Now, he took something out of his jacket that looked like a peashooter and a small arrow-like thing.

Putting the arrow into the peashooter, he held it in front of his mouth and aimed for the girl.

Being desperate, Serena didn't want to be a helpless girl, but Pikachu still slept within her arms. Turning her head, she saw how that guy aimed for her and Serena almost started to cry that she couldn't warn Ash. Closing her eyes, she hoped for a miracle.

Easily, the man shot the arrow towards the girl that would just black her out like the rodent before her.

However, before the arrow hit Serena, it was blocked by a rock.

Carefully, Serena opened one eye and strangely enough, she didn't see Team Flare anymore, but a grey rock in front of her. It took her a few moments to recognize this rock as her mum's Rhyhorn that had blocked the arrow for her.

"It seems that I'm not too late," someone said.

When Serena heard this voice, she couldn't believe it. Looking up, she spotted Ash , who sat on Rhyhorn's back and now, she couldn't prevent herself to cry some tears in joy.

Obviously, Team Flare was visibly surprised to see Ash here as well, but he was their main target anyway.

"I didn't expect to see you here, but you do us a favor. Now, we don't have to wait for you any longer." The man said, indifferent like always.

"Don't think that I'll let you get away." Ash exclaimed seriously.

"What heroic words, but don't you overestimate yourself?" The orange-haired woman responded. "Your condition is more than worse and your Pokémon can't help you this time."

Ash looked unsurely, but suddenly, he jumped down from Rhyhorn before the rock-type viciously tackled Ariados away. On the ground, Ash quickly tried to remove the spider web from Serena, but it was easier said than done.

After this surprise attack, Team Flare regained their composure again.

"Does he really think that a single Rhyhorn can beat us?" The man said. "Ariados, use Poison jab to teach this Pokémon a lesson."

After it recovered, the bug dashed towards the rock-type in an attempt to poison it, but every time, Ariados tried to hit Rhyhorn, the rock-type easily dodged the attack with incredible speed. Being incredible agile for a rhino, the Pokémon didn't have problems to keep Ariados on distance.

Meanwhile, Ash ripped several pieces of the net away. "Are you okay?"

" … *sniff* … I'm so sorry that I left with your Pokémon without permission," Serena apologized guiltily, feeling bad that she made everything worse. "I put you in danger …"

"You aren't responsible for this at all!" Ash clarified. "However, this isn't the best time to discuss."

"Darn! It's damn sticky …," Ash said, still trying to remove the spider web from Serena's legs and lower body. Of course, the boy wondered how his Pikachu could still sleep within Serena's arms, but he already assumed that it was Team Flare's doing.

In that moment, Rhyhorn dodged another attack.

"You need my help, doesn't you?" The female Flare member said with a grin.

"If you were a committed Team Flare member, you wouldn't try to get recognition from your fellow members, but at the moment, we should just steamroll this annoying Rhyhorn." The man said, indifferent.

It bothered the woman a lot that her teammate put her commitment for Team Flare down, but she quickly took the Pokéball of one of her Pokémon before she released it. "Come out, Trevenant and wipe this useless Pokémon away."

After it appeared on the scene, the tree-like Pokémon directed its one eye towards the rock-type.

When Ash realized his new foe, he turned around and he didn't know what to expect from the Pokémon that he had never seen before. Immediately, he continued to free Serena and Pikachu as quickly as possible.

"Make short work of him and use Horn Leech!" The female Flare said.

Storming towards the rhino, Trevenant branches started to shine.

Being n a handicap situation, Rhyhorn noticed the tree in time and avoided the grass-type attack.

"He can't compete against two Pokémon. Ariados, make sure that it won't jump around anymore." The adult man said, crossing his arms.

This time, Rhyhorn didn't see it coming and suddenly his feet were glued to the ground by a sticky web that was incredible resistant. Unfortunately, Rhyhorn's speed didn't help him anymore and now, he was even hit by the horn leech attack of Trevenant that caused a lot of damage.

"NO! Rhyhorn!" Serena shouted desperately. It didn't matter how much she hated Rhyhorn racing, but Rhyhorn was part of her family and she couldn't bear the thought of him getting hurt.

Ash knew that the situation could only become worse when Trevenant continued with its attack.

After Rhyhorn dropped onto its side, it seemed that Ash and Serena would be the next targets.

No matter what he did, Ash couldn't free Serena and the raven-haired trainer bit on his lips in desperation, because he didn't know what to do anymore to turn the tables on his opponents.

Panting heavily, Rhyhorn was defeated and immobilized.

"Apparently, your plan backfired." Team Flare said, satisfied.

Serena looked silently into Ash's eyes and she couldn't tell what the boy was thinking. To her, Ash's expression consisted of doubtfulness, desperation and even hopelessness. Not saying anything, she saw how Ash's gaze turned empty.

"What's our little hero doing now?" The orange woman said mockingly.

Ariados and Trevenant approached the two teens, but suddenly, Ash stood up and turned towards them.

Team Flare seemed to be more serious again, because Ash didn't show any fear at all.

"You win …," Ash admitted, with his head hanging down.

Those words caught everyone by surprise, especially Serena.

"Ash, what are you doing?" She asked fearfully, not wanting to believe what she heard.

Looking over his shoulder to Serena and Pikachu, Ash sighed, but he knew what was best for them. "I'll go with you, but you have to promise me that you leave Serena and the Pokémon out of this. They don't have anything to do with this and I'm the only one anyway, who knows your plans."

Team Flare stared the boy down.

"If you have some pride, you'll accept my offer." Ash said seriously, but his eyes showed some of his determination that was still left in this situation.

'I have to make sure that nothing happens to Serena, especially after what she has done for me:'

It was silent for a few moments and Serena shook her head in denial. For her, it wasn't right for Ash to act like that and she would pull him back if she wasn't tied up by the net. Apparently, the male Flare thought about Ash's words, but like always, you couldn't read his expression.

"Ash, please don't do that!" Serena begged the boy several times and every time, she became louder.

For the first time ever, the male Team Flare member cracked a smile and Ash raised an eyebrow in hope that the man would accept his offer.

"You aren't really in a position to make such offers." The man explained when his expression returned to its original one. "You couldn't do anything if we don't accept it and that's exactly what we are going to do!"

"For once, I agree with my teammate." The woman said.

Ash was shocked, because he didn't have another plan. It was his last hope that he could follow Team Flare in order to save his friends, but obviously, the Team wasn't a bunch of stupid people that would fall for this trick.

"Ariados, you know what to do." The man said, indifferent.

Ash crunched with his teeth and he looked over his shoulder to his friends that he couldn't help. If he just had Froakie or Fletchling here. Meanwhile, the spider Pokémon knew what to do and Ash couldn't fight against it, not with his current condition.

'That's no fair!' Ash thought desperately. 'After I could get away the first time, I now have to accept such a fate for my friends and me? I don't even know what happened to Froakie and Fletchling …'

"I'm sorry … ," Ash said with a smile, looking guiltily to Serena.

The brown-haired girl could see how much Ash blamed himself for this situation, but she didn't want to blame him. Deep inside, she knew that Ash had kept his incident with Team Flare for himself out of fear to harm other ones.

"At least, we have all of them at the same place," Team Flare said, satisfied.

Suddenly, Ariados stopped on its way and the spider seemed to notice something.

Being slightly puzzled, Ash could hear a very quiet noise from the distance that became louder with the moment. It was repeated in equal intervals and slowly but surely, Ash recognized this noise as something that he didn't expected.

Serena also heard it and the girl smiled enthusiastically.

"Damn it!" The female Flare cursed, looking around to the horizon.

The noise was revealed as the sound of a police siren. Not only that, it even approached the location of the current scene. Of course, this was a bad timing for Team Flare and the duo couldn't be more annoyed.

"It would take too much time to finish this before this stupid police arrives," the male Flare explained, still being indifferent.

"Did you call them?" The woman asked angrily towards Ash. "Perhaps, it has been your plan all along!"

Ash didn't know what the woman meant with plan, but he finally had some hope again. In a few moments, the police car would pass this spot of the road and obviously, Team Flare couldn't remain here with those kids.

Recalling his Ariados, the male Flare kept his coolness and looked concentrated to Ash.

"You have more luck than skill, like usual," he said as a matter of fact. "However, you shouldn't dare to tell the police something about our plan, otherwise it could end badly for some of your friends that you would like to see again."

Ash was slightly confused what he meant.

The woman recalled her Pokémon as well, but she was visibly more annoyed than her teammate.

Seconds later, Team Flare disappeared.

With the siren coming closer, Ash dropped on his knees and sighed in relieve. Immediately he turned around and continued to free Serena from the spider web while the girl needed some moments to realize her luck.

Eventually, Ash ripped the net apart, although his muscles hurt like hell. Finally, Serena could move again and the girl had to resist her urge to hug Ash as part of her gratitude for him. It had been a terrifying experience for her and she had never felt so relieved like she felt t the moment.

It was just a shame that Pikachu missed this whole incident by oversleeping.

* * *

><p>Back in the forest, Team Flare had to deal with this missed opportunity. Normally, the police officers weren't looking for them, but it was never a good idea to remain at the scene of crime while a police officer was coming.<p>

"I can't believe how much luck he has," the woman said, annoyed.

"I guess, it's our own fault. We shouldn't have remained at this place." the man responded, sitting down on a tree stump again.

"It's your fault!" The woman accused her teammate. "You have thought too long about this brat's offer instead of finishing our task."

"You really think that those few moments would have changed anything, huh? It was an interesting offer, but at this place or time, it wouldn't have brought us anything to accept it. On the other hand, it seems that under the right conditions, he would join our organization."

"Don't start with that again!"

"You need to take opportunities when they reveal themselves to you!"

"Then we should have taken him out immediately!"

"You don't understand the plan of our boss, but I'm confident that you'll understand it soon enough," he clarified before he thought about the next steps.

"Hmm …," the woman was in a huff.

"I guess, we have invite him to his own downfall now." The orange-haired man said with no emotions.

* * *

><p>After a moment where they caught their breath, Ash and Serena saw how the police car approached them before it became slower and slower until it stopped a few feet away from them. Of course, an officer Jenny left the car and she looked with a questioned look around.<p>

On the one hand, she saw two teens at the edge of the road and on the other hand, she saw a knocked out Rhyhorn on the grass next to the road.

"Am I allowed to ask what you're doing here?" She asked with a slightly demanding tone.

"We are …," Serena started to say, but Ash suddenly continued for her.

" … just exhausted after a confrontation with a wild Ariados," Ash explained, although Serena could see that it wasn't easy for him to lie again. "It was seemingly angered that we disturbed it and it hit a few attacks on our Rhyhorn before it disappeared again."

"You're Ash Ketchum, aren't you?" The officer asked.

"Uh … yeah …" Ash was confused.

"Apparently, you like to ignore other people, because Grace called our police station and told us that you left her house despite your critical condition. She worries much for your safety, you know? As part of her request, I have to bring you back to her house, just like her daughter Serena."

Apparently, it was Grace, who called the police and did a favor for Ash and Serena with that.

"My mum called you?" Serena was slightly buff.

"Indeed, but now get into my car." Jenny insisted.

Ash could imagine how angry Grace was that he just left.

"I don't want to ignore Grace's wish, but we can't just get into the car, officer." Ash explained worriedly, looking to Rhyhorn. "Rhyhorn protected us against the Ariados and we need to stay with him until he can walk back to his home."

"Don't you have his Pokéball with you?" Jenny asked.

"Rhyhorn hasn't been in his Pokéball in ages, because he's our family pet." Serena explained quickly.

"Hmm..," Jenny said, putting her hands on her hips. "For such cases, we always have some Oran berries with us."

With those words, the officer walked to her car before she came back with a berry that she gave Rhyhorn to eat. It didn't heal the rhino completely, but at least, it could walk on its own again and at first, it freed itself from the net around its feet.

Now, Ash turned to Serena again and the trainer smiled at her.

"Are you okay?" He asked with some concern in his voice.

"I'm fine," Serena replied, sitting on the ground before she noticed a small wound.

Pulling her right knee to her chest, she noticed a small graze on her knee.

"Oh …," Serena looked at the wound. "I guess, it happened when I fell onto the ground after Ariados caught me with his spider web, but it's nothing serious."

When she looked up again, she noticed how Ash stared weirdly at her and at first, Serena couldn't explain what was wrong with the boy. As if he was in a trance, the raven-haired trainer suddenly remembered.

* * *

><p><strong>End of chapter!<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

><p>Ash couldn't explain this feeling of Déjà-vu, but this girl in front of him with her injured knee brought up the memories from his childhood. Multiple times, the image in front of him changed between the current girl and a much younger girl with a pink dress in the exact same position.<p>

"Ash, are you okay?" Serena asked, not knowing why the boy stood like a statue in front of her.

Reliving the event from a few years ago, Ash could finally recognize the girl that he almost forgot, despite not on purpose. For a few more moments, the raven-haired trainer stared at Serena's face and the girl blushed slightly.

Serena didn't know what to say at the moment.

In the meantime, Jenny had helped Rhyhorn out of the net.

"I … I know you," Ash said quietly.

Serena's eyes became big and she tilted her head, not knowing what the boy meant at the moment, but suddenly, she assumed and hoped that it was what she was thinking.

"I can remember you," Ash said unsurely, yet convincing. "You're the girl with the strawhat … aren't you?"

Within the blink of an eye, Serena grew a smile and she could almost not believe that her childhood friend finally remembered her. Blushing even more, Serena just nodded and she felt so happy inside, despite the events that happened a few minutes earlier.

With Serena's answer, Ash suddenly felt a little bit ashamed, because he usually didn't forget anyone.

"You two! Get into the car now," Jenny interrupted the scene between the two.

After Jenny ended the moment between the two teens, Ash looked sheepishly away and he then walked slowly away to get Pikachu from the ground. Still sleeping, the rodent hadn't noticed anything from this incident, but Ash was relieved that his rodent wasn't injured any further.

Serena gazed after Ash and her heart beat slightly faster.

When Jenny's shadow fell over Serena, the girl knew that she had to stand up as well and after she walked to the police car, she waited eagerly for Ash. There weren't a lot of words anymore, or were needed.

Ash looked into the forest and he thought about the last words of Team Flare, but he also knew that he had to bring Serena into safety first.

With Serena standing next to the passenger's door, Ash assumed that she wanted to sit there, therefore he took the left seat of the backseats. When he passed Serena, the boy felt weirdly uncomfortable around her, although it wasn't the girl's fault.

Her gaze followed every single movement of Ash.

Out of reflex, Serena also sat down in the back of the car.

Eventually, Jenny engaged the first gear of the car before she drove the car towards Grace's house.

With Rhyhorn already walking back to its home, everyone moved away from this area.

Caressing Pikachu, Ash didn't look to Serena a single time, but he thought, ' … she is it … this makes it even worse that I brought her into such a danger … '

Unlike Ash, Serena looked at him the whole time, but she also thought, ' … he said that he remembered me … I feel so happy, but … why did he become so distant immediately … is there something that he remembered that …'

"How's Pikachu?" Serena suddenly asked to break a short silence.

" … he's fine," Ash answered shortly thereafter, but it was obvious that his head was full of thoughts.

With a car, the way back to the house was managed within three minutes.

When they arrived, Ash looked out of the car window to the house and he knew that he had some explaining to do.

* * *

><p>With Serena sitting on the couch of the living room, she watched on how her mother checked on Ash's wounds that might have worsened, however, there had been something in the air ever since they entered the house again.<p>

Ash tried to avoid Grace's gaze every time.

After she was finished with the check-up, Serena's mother turned to her daughter.

"Serena, could you go to your room?" Grace said as a matter of fact.

"Mum, you don't have to be angry - - -," Serena started to protest.

"That wasn't a request, Serena!" Grace said with a very serious voice and Serena couldn't remember the last time where her mother used this tone. At the moment, Serena, who was normally very rebellious against her mother, felt something like fear, but also some sort of respect towards her mother.

Feeling guilty, Serena saw how Ash motioned with his eyes for her to leave.

Reluctantly, the brunette stood up and walked with a heavy heart towards the stairs.

Turning around, Serena noticed how her mother only waited for her to be out of earshot. Quietly, she walked up the stairs until her mother couldn't see her anymore and Grace's attention turned to the raven-haired boy in her living room.

Grace did a well-thought break before she let out an non-audible sigh.

"What were you thinking when you just left?" Grace asked, expecting some sort of excuse.

Ash knew exactly that he had to chose his words wisely. "There was this Ariados …"

"Officer Jenny already told me about this incident," Grace interrupted the boy. "If you knew about this Pokémon, you could easily told me about it instead telling me about a danger that you mustn't talk about. I'm sure I would have caught up with my daughter faster than you."

Ash knew that Grace was right in this case.

"Do you even know what could have happened to you? How could you even dare to climb out of the first floor in your condition? Why did you lie to me?" Grace threw several questions at Ash and the boy already had problems to answer only one of them.

"I …," Ash couldn't answer.

Grace seemed to be slightly disappointed in Ash's answers.

"I know that you don't want to hear that and I'm aware that I'm not your mother, but I'm responsible for you as long as you're injured," Grace said coherently.

Ash expected such a speech from the woman and she had all the rights to talk with him like this.

"If I'm not able to do this though," Grace added quietly and looked away.

Within the blink of an eye, Grace's tone had changed.

"You still need one week of rest, if not even more," Grace explained thoughtfully. "Officer Jenny already advised me to send you to a hospital and tomorrow, an ambulance will bring you to Lumiose city's hospital where you can recover from your wounds."

When Ash heard this, his head snapped up.

"I can't go to Lumiose city!" Ash exclaimed seriously. "I still have to find my Pokémon and - - -"

Grace just continued to talk. "If Fletchling hasn't found your Pokémon until this evening, then the police station will release a wanted poster for them. In this case, you can trust our police and whoever found your Pokéballs, will surely return them soon."

Ash knew that those _guys _wouldn't return them that easily.

"Please, I want to stay here until I got my Pokémon back," Ash exclaimed pleadingly. "I won't cause any trouble anymore!"

'_I can't just leave … they would surely turn their attention to Serena and Grace … if I was only able to tell her the real reasons, but … I need to solve it on my own …'_

"It's already set," Grace responded as a matter of fact again. "You're a nice boy, but you only hurt yourself as long as you are traumatized from your accident. It's the best for you, you'll see."

"I need to stay here!" Ash said, with some desperation.

"I already told you everything and now, please go to our guest room and rest. I'll bring you something to eat for dinner," Grace said, not reacting to Ash's attempt to change her mind.

Despite further attempts to reason with Grace, Ash quickly realized that the woman wouldn't back down and the boy knew that he damaged Grace's trust to him when he lied to her once too often during his stay at her house.

After Grace turned her attention to some other things, she ignored Ash intentionally.

Taking the sleeping Pikachu off the couch, Ash fought with his decision not to tell Grace something about Team Flare. In the end, he just couldn't pull her into that disaster and Ash knew that he would need to accept Grace's decision for the time being.

Ash then walked slowly to the stairs.

What Ash didn't see was that Grace looked thoughtfully through the window and in her eyes you could see that it wasn't easy for her to say what she said. There also seemed to be something like doubt in her expression.

With his head lowered down, Ash walked up the stairs.

Unexpectedly, Ash suddenly spotted Serena, who sat on the last stair of the stairs.

With her knees pulled to her chest, she surely had heard everything from Grace and Ash's conversation.

Her extremely sad eyes almost didn't dare to look at Ash, but she seemed that she could almost cry right now, which made it even more painful for Ash to look at her.

Walking past her, Ash struggled with his words before he said, "I'm sorry that I caused you so much trouble and … that I didn't remember you immediately."

Serena wasn't sad that he didn't remember her immediately, but that Ash would need to leave again.

"Please, don't tell her anything about them," Ash added before he closed the door to the guestroom again.

Serena sat several more minutes on the stairs, thinking about the situation and her feelings.

* * *

><p>At the outside, Grace cared for the returned Rhyhorn and the woman inspected her Pokémon's bruises on its whole body. There was something that caused some mistrust in the woman's head and this only increased her doubts even more. Unfortunately, she couldn't think of anything that could confirm her doubts at this point …<p>

' … _oh … this bruise looks especially terrible … did really an Ariados caused this … they aren't such strong physically, especially wild ones …'_

With Rhyhorn licking some of his wounds, Grace thought that it would be a good idea to hear a second version of the incident. After she gave her Pokémon some food, the woman returned into her house.

"SERENA!" Grace shouted, calling for her daughter. "Could you come down, please?"

It took some time, but eventually, the brunette girl walked down to her mum, but she was almost only physical here, with her mind being somewhere else.

"Take a seat," Grace said when she sat down on the couch.

Quietly, Serena followed her mum's order. It wasn't an order, but it felt like one.

Grace noticed that her daughter was different.

"Don't worry, Serena," Grace started the conversation. "You aren't the one to blame, but I want to hear your version of the story. There's something about Ash's version that I don't trust completely."

Serena retained the same facial expression, but she knew what she had to answer.

"It's like Ash told you mum," Serena explained quietly. "He caught up with me before this Ariados attacked me from the woods. Shortly thereafter, Rhyhorn was also there and I'm thankful for them for saving me."

Grace wanted to believe the story, but …

"Is this really the truth," Grace asked again.

Hesitating, Serena already tap her hand, but she refused to tell the truth, "It really is …"

"There's something that you won't tell me," Grace said suddenly and when Serena was startled, Grace knew she was right. "Just tell me what it is."

The brunette knew that it was Ash's decision to tell someone about this Team and she didn't want to stab him into his back. Anyway, she had to say something and actually, there was something that she wanted to tell her mother anyway, or rather ask her.

"Why do you send Ash away?" Serena asked out of the blue.

Grace hadn't expected such a counter question, but with the realization that her daughter had eavesdropped on her previous conversation, she had to change the whole conversation. "Did you eavesdrop on us?"

"A little," Serena answered.

"Well, I would have told you anyway," Grace said, seeing it as not so dramatic.

"When? When Ash would have walked through the door tomorrow?" Serena said, slightly angry.

"Why are you so pumped up," Grace asked, raising an eyebrow. "It's the best for him to be treated in a hospital and …"

"What do you know what's good for him? You know nothing about him!" Serena snapped at her mother, starting to lose control of her emotions.

It seemed that something had built up in Serena and with one hit, it exploded.

Grace was speechless for a second after her daughter almost shouted at her. It wasn't Serena's typical rebellious behavior. It was much more emotion-filled this time and it was a side that Grace hadn't seen from her daughter up to this point.

"Calm down, Serena!" Grace demanded from her daughter. "You surely heard that I arranged everything and …"

"I don't care what you arranged!" Serena shouted and she also started to sob.

" …," Grace was at a lose of words for a moment. "Why do you defend him that hard? What is he to you?"

Serena couldn't keep in anymore. "He's the only person that helped me to survive this summer camp after you forced me to attend it! You can't even imagine how much he protects me and even you at the moment … you wouldn't understand … how much he means to me …"

Tears were dropping down onto the ground and Serena's face told a whole story. There was sadness, fear, anger and pity, but no hate.

Before Grace could say anything, Serena already turned around, ran up the stairs into her room and smashed it loudly before she threw herself onto her bed belly-first, crying deeply.

Grace was left sitting in the living room, where she had to assimilate this scene.

" … is she really in …," Grace said silently. " … with him? …"

* * *

><p>Ash sat on his bed when he heard how a door was smashed and he thought, <em>' … what was that? … did she just fight with her mother? … boy … hopefully, Serena is okay … Ash, what have you done to this family …<em>

Next to Ash, Pikachu still slept and the trainer could just hope that the rodent would wake up any time soon.

… _You shouldn't dare to tell the police something about our plan, otherwise it could end badly for some of your friends that you would like to see again …_

Ash remembered the last words of Team Flare and they could only be directed towards Froakie and Fletchling, who were still missing. Deep down, Ash knew that Team Flare wouldn't give him an idle threat and that his Pokémon were indeed in the hands of them.

Resting a little, Ash just let time lapse away, mostly because Pikachu needed it.

During the next hour, Ash let multiple thoughts pass his mind and slowly but surely, he planned what he had to do. It had already become late afternoon by now and the trainer caressed Pikachu's ear, knowing that his rodent would maybe react to it.

Eventually, Pikachu cooed quietly before the electro-mouse opened his eyes.

Out of reflex, the rodent looked fearfully around, but Ash quickly reminded his Pokémon that everything was okay and that Team Flare wasn't here. During the next few minutes, the raven-haired trainer explained the situation to Pikachu.

"I know it doesn't look good, but the longer we are here the more we bring everyone in danger." Ash explained thoughtfully and the electro-type sat sadly on the bed.

"This night we'll …," Ash said, but he was interrupted by the opening door.

Looking to the door, Ash spotted Serena, who almost didn't dare to enter the room.

Serena's blue eyes were completely filled with sadness, but she didn't want to be alone in her room, especially when she knew that Ash wouldn't be around for much longer.

"You can come in," Ash said after Serena remained next to the door.

Slowly, the brunette entered the room and closed the door thoroughly.

Although Ash motioned to her to sit down, Serena decided to stand and she felt quite uncomfortable.

After a short silence, Serena said, "I didn't tell her anything …"

"Thanks …," Ash responded, with his head lowered down. "I know that this wasn't easy for you and I'm sorry if I caused some sort of argument between you and your mum. At the moment, I'm not sure anymore whether I make the right or wrong decisions …"

Serena noticed Ash's self-blame.

"You do what you think is the best for everyone, Ash," Serena explained shyly.

"I would like to think that," Ash replied doubtfully.

To be honest, Serena could understand Ash's self-doubt partly and she could also understand how hard it was for Ash to manage this situation. Anyway, she needed to know some more parts to be able to help him in some way, but according to her mother, Ash would be send to Lumiose city tomorrow.

"I know … you won't tell me about this organization," Serena said quietly.

"It would do more harm than good," Ash answered.

" … but perhaps you can tell me how all of this started," Serena added.

Ash looked to Pikachu and actually, there wasn't a reason to keep it a secret.

"Well, there's not much to talk about …," Ash replied, but he could possibly get his mind off things for a bit. "I traveled to this region on my own to challenge the gym leaders and eventually, participate in the Pokémon league. Shortly after my arrival, I already found two new friends in Clemont and his sister, Bonnie. During that time, I also got my Froakie from professor Sycamore in Lumiose city."

Serena listened carefully.

"My first goal was the gym in Santalune city and on my way to it, I caught my Fletchling. Unfortunately, Clemont and Bonnie received a message from Lumiose city that their dad was involved in an accident and that he was brought into the hospital. Of course, it was the right decision from them to return to Lumiose city to see their father."

At least, Serena now knew how Ash came to her home region.

"We agreed to meet again in Lumiose city after I won my badge," Ash continued. "Well, I won it after a hard-fought match and at the same day, I received a message …"

Then, Ash suddenly stopped with his oral fluency.

"I see … you don't need to explain more," Serena said, leaning slightly against the wardrobe.

Looking away from Ash, Serena had some tints of red on her cheeks and she feared that she wouldn't have many chances anymore to give Ash something back. Struggling with her words, the brunette decided to approach Ash.

The boy didn't realize it until the brunette stood right in front of him.

Suddenly, she held something out to Ash. With questioned eyes, the boy saw the handkerchief that she wanted to give him. It took him a few seconds to see that it was the same handkerchief that he once used to bandage Serena's knee in Kanto.

"All the time, I wanted to return it to you …," Serena said shyly, trying to control a blush.

"You kept it all those years?" Ash said, hesitantly taking the handkerchief from the girl.

"Of course …," she answered rhetorically.

"Do you remember what you told me back then?" Serena asked, smiling.

"Hmm …," Ash thought for some time. "Let me think … I told you not give up until it's over, didn't I?"

"Yes," Serena replied happily, feeling so happy that Ash remembered those moments. "You gave me the strength to go through everything, no matter how hard it is."

Ash looked thoughtfully onto the handkerchief before he grew a smile. It was strange that Serena just reminded him not to lose hope, no matter what. Next to him, Pikachu was very interested to know the past of his trainer and Serena.

"Thanks," Ash said suddenly and Serena was slightly puzzled. "You're right."

Now, Ash stood up and walked to the window of his room, where he looked to the setting sun.

"I guess, you heard what your mum decided, right?" Ash suddenly changed the topic.

Serena looked to the ground, biting on her lips. "She wants to send you away …"

"Your mum isn't to blame at all, Serena," Ash made sure. "Under normal circumstances, she does the exact right thing, that's why I don't want that you argue with her about me. She's a great mum after all."

Normally, Serena would probably argue about this, but Ash was right. Grace was everything, but a bad mum.

She thought about her mum's decision, but she felt that Ash wouldn't follow it. Clenching a fist in front of her heart, she could feel what Ash wanted to do and that scared her even more, knowing how much was at stake here.

From her position, she saw that Ash waited for something.

Looking into the mirrored wardrobe next to her, Serena saw her unsure face.

With a heavy heart, she asked, "You'll leave tonight, won't you?"

Ash was caught off guard by this question. He didn't even tell Pikachu about this part of his plan, but Serena already knew it, although Ash hadn't revealed itself to her. Not turning around, the boy had no clue what to tell her, because he was weary of lying.

"You know how it is …," he said.

"I don't want that you go to them," Serena said pleadingly.

"You know exactly that I don't have a chance, Serena." Ash clarified strongly.

Pikachu, on the window's ledge, could only agree on it. They didn't have another possibility.

Clenching his fists, Ash just wished for a way to end this somehow.

Serena heard very quiet noises in the kitchen, but she assumed that Grace would probably start to prepare dinner for this evening. After five seconds, there weren't noises anymore though, but she didn't think more about it.

"Then, I want to come with you! I want to save your Pokémon as well," Serena explained, determined, yet nervously.

Still looking out of the window, Ash had known it that Serena would ask him eventually, but she couldn't even imagine what Team Flare would do to them. No way that he would put her into such a danger again.

"I don't want that you come with me, Serena! Do you understand?" Ash asked sternly.

Strangely enough, he didn't receive an answer, even after ten seconds. There wasn't any protest.

"Did you hear me?" Ash asked again.

After he received once more no answer, he turned around to make sure that she would relinquish her idea to accompany him.

"You need to stay away - - - -," Ash abruptly ended his sentence.

No words could describe Ash's expression when he saw what was in front of him.

Serena's eyes were closed and she was held by a person that stood behind her. With a cloth held in front of her face, Serena was unconscious and Ash couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a person with orange clothes, hair and sunglasses behind the brunette.

Pikachu already produced electricity around its cheeks.

"It's a small world, isn't it?"

* * *

><p><strong>End of the chapter!<strong>


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